I Walked into the Woods to Die

I once walked into the woods to die
or to come out a different man
haunted by a worldview of separation and
carrying 5 days of food and a lifetime of pain.
It was hatred that drove me there,
hatred of self and father and God and world.
What I learned is that Life,
my life—is mine to create,
and hatred binds my soul like a chain
to the smallness of a self
to the identity of my wounding
to the repetition of a story
and that in each breath
if I attend
is the opportunity
to die
to let go of what separates me from this moment
this moment of being born anew.
It was the world of nature to which I fled, and that taught me of the wild resiliency residing within all of life. The following quote captures the essence of this indigenous learning and wisdom.

I find that somehow, by shifting the focus of attention, I become the very thing I look at, and experience the kind of consciousness it has; I become the inner witness of the thing. I call this capacity of entering other focal points of consciousness, love; you may give it any name you like. Love says “I am everything”. Wisdom says “I am nothing”. Between the two, my life flows. Since at any point of time and space I can be both the subject and the object of experience, I express it by saying that I am both, and neither, and beyond both. — Nisargadatta