The fog gathers
its robe at my knees.
A wild goose cries,
lost from her flock.
Blown by Autumn winds,
I have become
dust upon the road.
Even my footprints vanish.
Deserted for twelve long years,
the crooked path
that leads to the temple
is overgrown with bamboo.
I sip tea on the broken steps.
In the firelight
crickets chirp an old hymn
from my village.
I tear off a piece of my robe,
write a prayer and burn it.
Its smoke drifts across the moon.
The night grows heavy as a mountain.
The Braided Way is a framework to see every faith tradition as a strand, braided into a larger whole of spiritual awareness. In the Braided Way, combining spiritual practice from various faiths allow us to explore sacred experience and wonder in forms that resonate with our personal spiritual needs and sacred intuitions. In today’s culture, many people shun religious dogma, but yearn for spiritual connection. The Braided Way allows the ceremonies and practices of multiple faiths to be available without the confinements of cultural dogma.
