Seek the Pure Act

Seek the pure act that lives as a sign in memory.
Seek the indestructible, the true,
seek, if you wish, this art through which a soul
gone these countless years now speaks to you,
and you may know him as your own.

Seek all waters, be they waves of fear or wells of peace,
seek in unexpected places,
the creeks and rivers of release!
Seek the snow falling on sleeping fields or sighing hills,
seek the rain, yet seek the sun a moment before dawn,
when the forest to the east bursts into flames
and the lake is as blue as a pauper’s crown.

Seek the tent of those abandoned in the desert!
Seek those who have known many paths, many woes,
yet have retained their dignity.
Seek the silent and listen to them speaking!
Seek the prisoner released.
Seek the wedding feast,
seek love, which is the royal wedding feast!
For with all its imperfections it is the work of art
before its final form is complete.

Seek the lost kingdom at the feet of mountains,
seek the interior palace!
Carry the great treasure of your burden
and serve it to the guests.
Run across the thinnest ice, laughing – or weeping if you
must –
as you must, as I must, as each man must –
yet remember that laughter should enfold all weeping.

Seek the eye of childhood!
Seek the eye of purified old age!
Seek those who value good fools,
seek those who have mercy on bad fools.
Seek the wise but remember they are only dust,
seek the innocent, but remember the trials ahead of them.
Seek the strong and the weak, and love them equally,
know that their tests are only variations
on the unified theme.

Seek the eternal in the present,
seek the past and the future,
link them with the trajectory of your course,
for you are
you are
you are
you are the vessel.
~Michael O’Brien