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This poem and others are available in my books, Nothing Works: Meditations on Aikido, Buddhism, the Tao, Zen, and other inconsequential things....and, Nothing Special, and Nothing Matters..., available thru Amazon.com, in print and Kindle editions and Barnes & Noble websites.....Also available as an e-book via Smashwords.com. Try this link: www.nothing-works.com for the full array of options.
Unification and separation
The separation we all experience
The unification, some yearn for
To become one with all -
But, what does that mean, anyway?
In aikido we practice, practice
With each practice we are told
Told to blend, to move in harmony
Become one with our uke
Applying our technique With one, instead of to one (other)
So, I watch myself watching myself
Watching myself....well, you get it
A fragmentation without apparent end
So, during aikido practice
I tell myself, as they say in Britain, Mind the gap - such an apropos phrase
I mind that gap of self and experience
Till the gap narrows, narrows
And self and experience become one
No thought, totally one with everything
However brief that moment lasts -
Only known after it is over
However, achievement and acquisition
Cannot be the goal - there is no goal
Practice, practice, practice...
Direct knowing and experiencing -
All without that pesky witness Happens when it happens
Pay attention, pay attention
And, mind that gap...
02-14-2016 04:30 PM 
