En-Lightening
And as I want for
Words to come,
Ideas to flow,
Pain to go,
I suffer my judgment of what is so.
And as I will for
Me to mend,
Feeling to flee,
Them to see,
I suffer my judgment of what be.
And as I worry
I might lose,
They might leave,
Things might rot,
I suffer my judgment of what is not.
And as I wish I
Didn’t want,
Didn’t will,
Didn’t worry,
Didn’t wish,
I suffer my judgment of what is.
And then
An opening arises.
And as I witness
What I think,
What I dream up,
What I dread,
I suffer not, but smile instead.
For I can see,
That all these thoughts
Are not me,
Are not real;
They’re thoughts I learned,
Not a big deal.
And so I suffer not, but heal.
And as I return
To the now,
To the silence,
To the knowing that all experience
Can be amusing and adored,
I return to myself,
And I suffer no more.
This poem was originally posted on Tash Shadman's website.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the poem’s notion of seeing a separation between you and your thoughts? Can you share a personal story of healing through being able to separate yourself from your thoughts? What helps you be a witness to your thoughts and dreams?
Add Your Reflection
24 Past Reflections
On Oct 29, 2023 noha~tarek wrote :
It is very difficult to separate myself from my thoughts! But sometimes it happens! I suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder. Sometimes, instead of being engaged in the obsessive thoughts, I find myself looking above them, as if I'm a god observing me & my thoughts below. But again, this is very rare...
Post Your Reply
On Oct 24, 2023 Victoria wrote :
This poem was a great gift to me today.........I was way too caught up in my thoughts, wants and judgments......smiled when I came to the end and was able to let go. Thank you!
Post Your Reply
On Oct 24, 2023 Sandip Sheta wrote :
We are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking.
1 reply: David | Post Your Reply
On Oct 24, 2023 Francis dacosta wrote :
reality minus expectations and narratives equals equanimity. easy to say harder to do without continous effort.
2 replies: Siegfried🔥🔥🔥, David | Post Your Reply
On Oct 23, 2023 Rachel Hill wrote :
I love this it is so “me” and I found it a simple way to describe the separation which I really with understanding!! Thank you 🙏 and I look forward to more like this x
Post Your Reply
On Oct 23, 2023 Pankaj wrote :
What a wonderfully articulated invitation to BE in the present! Not get caught up in DOING the cravings and aversions in thoughts, speech, or actions.
I feel inspired to sit and practice being the witness right now . . .
I feel inspired to sit and practice being the witness right now . . .
Post Your Reply
On Oct 20, 2023 Jagdish P Dave wrote :
The last stanza of En-Lightening written by Tash Shadman is engihetning to me. This is what the author writes:
As I return to the now, to the silence, to the knowing that all experience
can be amusing and knowing that all experince can be amazing and adored, I return to myself, and I suffer no more. This the final step as I am walking on the path of knowing who I am, my Real Self. This is the last step in my self-discovering and self-realizing pilgrimage. What a joy! It's an awe experince, an experince of wonderment, and an experience for adorement, and an experience of fullness. The boundary that I create by my self-serving behaviors, the bounday created by focusing on me alone at the cost of others well-being. When I become aware of my self-ceated boundary , the wall I have created between me and otherrs , I feel liberated and the words come out of my mouth: Freedom at last!
When I love people in my life unconditioally, when I welcome them with my open hearts, when I display my u... [View Full Comment]
Post Your Reply
On Oct 19, 2023 David Doane wrote :
Based on my understanding of the teaching of wisdom teachers, I believe thoughts are ephemeral experiences in my eternal real self, and are separate from my real self. My real self is whole; thoughts that real self is whole, and that I or ego self can heal and become whole help diminish the grip of I so that I does heal and become more whole. I can witness my thoughts and dreams because they are not me and are another experience within me. What helps me be a witness to my thoughts and dreams is knowing that they are experiences within me and knowing that I can learn from my witnessing.
Post Your Reply
On Oct 19, 2023 Sigurd wrote :
These are words to remind the reader of the timeless state of living-in-the-now, with surrender to intense experience, of pain or pleasure (dukha or sukha). Thoughts of "I don't want" or "I want" dampened before they catch the thinking mind in corrals of reflection on the desire that is present.
1 reply: Siegfried🔥🔥🔥 | Post Your Reply
On Oct 19, 2023 stream wrote :
I found this poem stilted, amateurish. So those are thoughts. Those thoughts are only one aspect of me. My poetry critic. I have experience healing by accepting all of me even my judgments. In fact, I enjoy my judgments and can see how I formed them well enough to know that there is another level of reality where I can love not only myself but every one and everything else in a way that is beyond judgmental thoughts. Being a witness to my dreams is easy because I recognize my dreams as being a deeper form of symbolic communication that I can learn more about who I am from.
Post Your Reply
On Oct 18, 2023 Prasad wrote :
I find that either I am my thoughts and feelings or I am the observer. When I am my thoughts and feelings, I feel the pain of Israelis and Palestinians, republicans and democrats depending on whom I am talking to. I empathize, sympathize and sometimes I get lost in my feelings and thoughts and get traumatized and stuck as well. When I am able to witness, I am able to find balance, nurturing and warmth and find compassion spreading to me and the other at the same time.