in Toripani, Nepal 2020

Now I know how to die.
It was raining when I went to sleep.
It was raining when I woke up.
It is still raining here at noon.
I have been sitting since eight
Sitting, being but the boat of breath
Breath buoyant upon this ocean of water.
Do you understand?
Do you realize breath is the basis?
This is the what of why I am…
Life is alight and awake…
Is keen with feeling and fervor…
Life takes guts and grit… is soft and serene.

Do you see yourself on your death bed?
Do you feel that the release of your consciousness will go well?
Do you live your life alive to death... alive to the immortal?
Will you surrender to that familiar intimacy with appreciation?

Now I know how to die.
The feeling of forever arrived…
Arrived in such a sweet moment.
Appreciation has become the sole thing…
The endlessness of love is as an illumination in the dark.
Knowing this…
The privilege of consciousness…
The purity of awakenedness…
Knowing this... each breath is a kiss of awareness.

This is how I will die.
Simply
My final breaths bathed
In the brightness
In the all-love
Bathing
Welcoming
Gathering in as the motion that is my life
To finish…
To finish me the actor… to finish me the role...
To finish me stage front.
And what will remain is the unchanging illumination of immortality.