In Memoriam... “Rock To River To River” by Pat Verhulst, a dear alum of Mars Hill University (1937-2021)
If you’d like to have a funeral for me, Let’s keep it small. Sometimes a group of monks from Tibet Make a festival mandala, a flat map Of Buddhist symbols, Earth, air, fire, Water. Representing the millions Of life forms, the ten thousand Fragments of the sacred world, Which is one. The symbols are Drawn in single grains Of colored sand. Very intricate And bright, it takes a week, all day, all night, every day, With silent prayers and blessings For every grain of sand. It is as big As a ping-pong table, with a single Round border to unite the many. When the mandala is complete, They bless the sand again, Prayers for all beings. They carry the flat design Carefully, to a river And throw it in. Nothing lasts, not this universe, Nothing. Carefully, to a river And throw it in. Nothing lasts, not this universe, Nothing.
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Their wish and intent is that the River will carry the sand everywhere. The blessing will be Carried from river to river, Dispersed to every thing and Everyone on earth. River to river to river As the water eternally moves, All one river.
