Wednesday 29 June 2011

In Search of the Laughing Buddha

Some days,
when the spirit
of the laughing Buddha

is still,
the clouds gather ominously
and we shelter each other.

I am waiting
for light to pour through me.

I am always turning away
and towards prayer;
Will faith ever hold me
still?

One single terrifying moment
of divinity
is all;

The days are sand and sea
and we know nothing.

- Shaista Tayabali, 2011

I am having a funny old time with my eyes lately. I am meeting with my Ophthalmology Consultant in the morning. How do you cope with fear? (That is not a rhetorical question - I really do want to know!!) Does your faith hold you still? 

Painting:  The Protector, Elspeth Young

19 comments:

kelvin s.m. said...

…how do i cope with fear? i just let it pass and surprise me in the best way he could… then let’s see how well he will manage to kill and chill me in the least way i expected it to be… escaping from fears will not make you realize and know how strong actually you can be… i believe there’s no such thing as fear in this world…only people who can’t manage to accept reality…though i am not saying i am too brave by stating all of these things co’z at times i do feel like escaping from reality for a while and let myself embraced by darkness… ‘til i realized it’s just me… ‘ME’ – yes, the greatest fear of myself. I had been through a lot of pains and struggles from the past and at a very young age i learned to be independent enough to face all the reality fate had laid in me which lead me speak this way. These are just my own view and sorry if you think i have pulled myself much with regards this post.

Good day.

~Kelvin

Brian Miller said...

ha this is excellent...i esp like the close...i think you may have found one...

Marcoantonio Arellano (Nene) said...

'Fear': a manifestation of that which might be, the uncontrolable, the unknown. Fear enters when given time but one's option is to choose to Love as much as one can, while one can, all who one can and from this fear then has no room to enter.

I have come to terms with fear. I have released myself from it. It's a waste of time so precious.

Breathe in the moment. Love!

My

Pat Hatt said...

Yeah why waste time being afriad, may as well go for it. Very nice write!

RNSANE said...

What beautiful thoughts!

As for my coping with fear, I don't do so well with it. If I am overwhelmed by it in the daytime hours, I can more easily divert myself from those feelings by activity, calling a friend, busying myself.

If fearful thoughts come in the night, I have a difficult time. I wrestle with them until I finally fall asleep.

moondustwriter said...

Fear has many stages - I guess the best you can do is face each - one day is like a cloud another a tornado. Be glad for the days that don't suck you under...

Best with your tests - writing does help
Hugs

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the tests - I really enjoyed your poem

Anonymous said...

Hugs and good luck - love your writing

Marcoantonio Arellano (Nene) said...

Hey, I forgot to ask, can I have a hug, Lupus? Like writing, hugs mitigate or assuage the angst because your spreading the wealth and others are sharing what calm and peace they have. Buena suerte en tu examin!

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Oh Shaista, this poem is elegaic. I especially caught my breath at "the days are sand and sea and we know nothing." I loveyour title too - to find the Laughing Buddha, look at your baby nephew!

Pema Chodron wrote a beautiful book called When Things Fall Apart, and another called The Places That Scare You. They are on audio too. I recommend them.

Good luck with the doctors, Shaista. I hope this is a temporary patch. I love your line you are waiting for light to shine through you. It already does, my dear girl.......you are a radiant being. Keep me posted, I will be thinking of you.

Jeanne-ming Brantingham said...

I think Sherry said it best...combat fear by reaching for, talking to, writing about, hopelessly loving that little Laughing Buddah.

I am terrified of going blind. I watched my mother lose her sight only to gain insight. I began to paint by carving, perhaps as insurance. No matter what you face, the words won't stop flowing through you.

Ruth said...

To know that The days are sand and sea and we know nothing is knowing all you need to know.

I'm sorry to hear about your eyes.

I don't know how to answer the question about coping with fear. Except that I go soul-ward, believing the stillness is there.

Fly Girl said...

Wonderful verses. My faith is really the only way I know how to cope with fear and not let it overtake me.

Shaista said...

Windowlad - don't apologise! Thankyou for sharing a strand of your life. Yes, facing reality is important. Fortunately much of my reality is really quite delightfully bearable :)

Shaista said...

Nene - I like your definition, and your solution. I did breathe through the fear, I do try to, every time my eyes do strange and inexplicable things.

Shaista said...

Sherry - I do love Pema Chodron. I shall look for her on audio as well. Thankyou!
Anyway, I have your stones with their most important message inscribed :)

Shaista said...

Jeanne-ming - yes, it is that fear, not so much of the unknown for us, but of the known... you understand completely.

* said...

Shaista, how did your visit with the Ophthalmology Consultant go??

See all you can now, soak your eyes with color and swells and curves. (I have a feeling you already do.)

Nose in a book said...

When I get scared I write, which intensifies it at first but then it flows right out of me and onto the page. Those are the writings that I don't share with the world!

Hope you're having an up day. x

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