Awakening, Remembering, Patacāra, Andrea Gibson RIP
Reflections on the Buddha's awakening as we come through Āsāḷhā Pūjā, the July full moon that celebrates the Turning of the Wheel. Patacara's doubt in her practice and awakening poem. The meditation the Buddha found as deep intimacy with the world, and maybe even profound heartbreak as the flavor of no longer being reborn. And the wisdom and beauty of poet Andrea Gibson, who just died. Read this excerpt:
"Cause I don’t wanna be a witness to this life,
I want to be charged and convicted,
ear lifted to her song like a bouquet of yes
because my heart is a parachute that has never opened in time
and I wanna fuck up that pattern,
leave a hole where the cold comes in and fill it every day with her sun,
‘cause anyone who has ever sat in lotus for more than a few seconds
knows it takes a hell of a lot more muscle to stay than to go"
– Andrea Gibson, Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns
