It all began with a cave,
With a cliff and traces of a stream of water and a cave
   drifting with floral scents
and a solitary individual sitting cross-legged and a stick of
   burning incense
facing a boundless sphere of blue sea
and a dark bird atop the clouds breaking through the mist;
a cave, into which dew falls drop after drop, and lightning
   carves stroke after stroke.

It all began with zero—
zero: call it a solitary individual embracing a solitary cave,
a cave carved out by the distant pounding surf,
guarded by watchful eagles;
a cave the bodhisattva Tara hinted would one day split
   open,
all starting from zero, from a circular prayer mat.

One hundred and eight pagodas towering over the mountain
   top,
five hundred Arhats standing in wait aside the pagodas;
the day finally arrives: a large boulder marks the location of
   the main hall;
monks and nuns trek up the mountain path on this arduous
   yet joyful pilgrimage,
all because of a solitary individual sitting in meditation—
this existence came into being
because of one individual.

It all started with a mantra,
a volume of scripture, a bodhi tree,
the melody of a wind chime and the clatter of a string of
   prayer beads,
a heart of gold a benevolent gaze and a wheel of dharma;
the long dark night being also a voyage of compassion—
Om Ma Ni Padme Hum

The Big Dipper comes into view as the cave splits open—
it all began with a previous life of one hilltop
and meanders unto the next life of a mountain trail;
this existence came into being long before,
with a cave, a bodhisattva, and the hum of myriads of
   mantras,
back when the reality of this existence had not yet come
   into being.

AFTERWORD: On June 12, 2005, my wife and I paid a humble visit to the Venerable Dharma Master Hsin Tao at Wu Sheng Monastary on Ling Jiou Mountain. The master was kind enough to present my wife with a copy of his book Ling Jiou Mountain and Beyond. On the title page he wrote the words “the coming into being of this existence,” reminiscent of a line from an esoteric Buddhist verse, a clue perhaps to the nature of karmic destiny. This poem is dedicated to Master Hsin Tao as a show of appreciation.