And this separate thing, which in that general stream
has been but the least vanishing particle, becomes,
when so regarded, an epiphany of the whole, equivalent
to the entire unending manifold of time.

— Arthur Schopenhauer

 

Tat tvam asi:
thou art that —
that leaf, that tree,
that cow, that cat,
that cloud, that sky,
that moon, that sun,
that you, that I —
for all are one.
So here you are
and there you go
and who you were
you hardly know.

I think this I
is only me:
a drip, a drop,
but not the sea.
Yet when I wake
from all these dreams,

then, like the snake,
I’ll shed what seems:
this mask, this skin,
this ball and chain.
I will begin
to fall like rain.

Our heart’s last home:
the wind-whipped foam,
the sweet, deep sea.
Tat tvam asi.