Practice Heroically

A poem "Encouraging Words" by Zen Master Guishan, via friend and fellow yogi Paul. Make sure you read all the way to the end!

"Some day you will die.

Lying on your sick bed about to breathe your last,
you will be assailed by every kind of pain.

Your mind will be filled with fears and anxieties
and you will not know
where to go or what to do.

Only then you will realise that
you have not practised well.

The skandhas (matter/form, sensations, conceptions/apperceptions,
impulses/mental formations, and consciousness)
and the four elements in you
will quickly disintegrate,
and your consciousness will be pulled
wherever your ancient,
twisted karma leads it.

Impermanence
does not hesitate.

Death
will not wait.

You will not be able
to extend your life by even a second.

How many thousand more times
will you have to pass through
the gates of birth and death.

If these words are challenging,
even insulting,
let them be an encouragement
for you to change.

Practise
heroically.

Do not accumulate
unnecessary possessions.

Don't give up.

Still your mind,
end wrong perceptions,
concentrate and do not run
after the objects of your senses.

Practise diligently.

Be determined not to let your days
and months pass by wastefully."