Licking Honey Off the Razors Edge

I offer you a poem from Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche (1932-1999), a revered Tibetan Meditation Master, Scholar, and Poet:

“The nature of everything-
is illusory and ephemeral,
Those with dualistic perception-
regard suffering as happiness,
Like they who lick the honey-
from a razor’s edge.
How pitiful they who cling strongly-
to concrete reality:
Turn your attention WITHIN-
my friends.”

COMMENTARY:
The phrase, ‘licking honey off a razors edge’ in and of itself is a KOAN. It can mean many different things to many different people. Its interpretation is as a BROAD and DEEP as the ocean. But what is for certain, is that WE ALL can personally relate to it, for we have all tasted the promising sweet honey that quickly TURNS to suffering, misery, & regret. Such is any temptation (IN ANY FORM)- offering honey-sweet gratification and leaving us with a lacerated psyche. Grasping onto anything material in this world is like water running through your hands. Furthermore, pleasures are transient, cannot be satisfied, and are NEVER ENOUGH.  

The ‘NEVER ENOUGH’ only causes ‘Unfulfilled Craving’, which results in (a craving-to-crave obsession), like ‘Licking honey off the razors edge’, and a dog chasing its own tail. Therefore, the Outward Mind never finds fulfillment or gratification. Allowing the appetites of the Outward Mind to have its way, only leads to the Mind losing its way. Why? Because the Outward Mind- can’t even make up its Mind.   The Outward Mind does not know what is good for it and does not know what it truly wants. The result is always- grief and the manifestation of a FALSE SELF.

P.S. If only we could have SEEN THROUGH the titillating illusion and discerned the sharp razor HIDDEN beneath-on the other side! If only we could have PERCEIVED its bait- for what it truly is! If only we could SEE the ever-so-thin string dangling above the carrot! Alas, all we can do is LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES & redirect our course of conduct. But that is not as simple as it seems, is it? Such flawed souls are we …The OUTER EYE serves us no good, for it is truly blind to the many MIRAGES & IMPOSTERS this impermanent life falsely offers. If we are ever to PIERCE through the VEIL OF ILLUSION and detect its clever deceptions, we must SEE with our INNER EYE, for the Devil (Anxious Lust & Lustful Anxiety, a la Bhagavad Gita) comes in many FORMS & DISGUISES. Self-Admonition: “You got to know when you’re dealing with the Devil.”

B.P.S. After a lifetime of digging for lost treasures, the Aged Explorer unearths the final discovery:
‘NO WANT- is the highest Bliss.’ …from the Lookout Post.