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Love in and of itself can never cause suffering.

All suffering related to what we think love is

arises from our projections and attachments to an object of attraction.

This is actually the opposite of love,

for love is a state of being in which we transcend the awareness of separate objects

and recognize our oneness with all that is;

a state devoid of projection and attachment

for there is nothing outside of us to project on or attach to.

molecules swimming
in the atomic sea
particles becoming waves
waves becoming particles
table top ripples
from the hit
of my liquid fist

SOUND
echoing
turning into thought
into dream
into action
into matter
into nothing that matters

FEAR
dissolving
in an ocean
of connectedness

LOVE
undulating
in the Kosmic Surf

the future,
a one-eyed monster
wanting to be feed

the past,
a shadow
cast ahead

and now,
is…

NOW
riding the waves
Kosmic surfing
going with the flow
nothing else needed
to Know.

- MAK

Image: Particle Wave by me (MAK)

I have traveled far to ask,

“What is Love?”

A Buddhist Monk once showed me that

Love is a compassionate heart;

A Christian Saint once showed me that

Love is a forgiving heart;

A Muslim Sheik once showed me that

Love is a devoted heart;

A Taoist Sage once showed me that

Love is a heart that accepts all things as they are;

A Jewish Prophet once showed me that

Love is a heart that sees the one within the many;

A Native American Shaman once showed me that

Love is a heart that feels the interconnectedness of all things;

A Hindu Holy Man once showed me that

Love is, when all that is not love ceases to be.

I have traveled far to ask,

“What is Love?”

And I have seen the many faces of Love,

and I have felt the many ways of Love,

and I have touched the heart of Love itself

and learned that

Love truly is all these things.

- MAK

From One Face: A Collection of Interfaith Prayers and Poems

*Image by: Daniel B. Holeman

I look, I listen.

The words I’ve written

tell me more than I’d ever wished to know.

Days grow longer…

thoughts dwell, expand, explode – implode…on overload.

I see air swirling in circles around my hand,

tiny particles of violet light

caress my canvased skin.

A humming in my brain

echoes down

deep dark caverns of parts untouched.

In response, my temples pound pain

– shooting nerves never ending.

The veins in my eyes bulge and swell

then suddenly…

I shed a tiny tear.

A tear

salty and sweet

to the taste of my tongue,

A tear

more real than any thought

I’ve ever touched.

- Mark Allan Kaplan

*Published in J. Campbell (Ed.) (1983).Our western world’s greatest poems. Sacramento, California: World of Poetry Press.

The rebirth of the life-generating and life-sustaining sun
at the darkest moment of the seasons;
The oil of an ancient temple lamp burning beyond its limit;
A shining star in a dark sky illuminating the way;
The light of mercy revealed through prayer and devotion;
The guiding light of seven principles arising from the heart of
the Dark Continent.
This is the season of The Festivals of Light…
The Winter Solstice,
Chanukah,
Christmas,
Ramadan,
Kwanzaa
In the darkness of this Winter
during these terror filled and challenging times;
May we all find the light in darkness,
faith amidst struggle,
rebirth following change and loss,
and virtue and devotion in the face of great challenge.

Published in: Beben, M. T. (2002). New Wine: More Eucharistic Liturgies for 21st Century Small Faith Communities. Boulder, CO: Woven Word Press.