The Only Changeless

The Only Changeless

for Brother Ishtananda, who chanted:  “I am not this body, which changes and passes away.  I am not this mind, which knows nothing but change.  I am the immortal, blissful soul, ever one with Thee.”

The body changes day by day
From fresh youth to decaying age.
Loss of hair, weakened teeth thus dismay
As slower legs amble across the stage.
I am not that body.

The mind knows nothing but constant swirling
As with the body it forms—emerging from the womb 
And through many countless events twirling
To weaken, to sicken, to pass on to the tomb.
I am not that mind.

The soul remains ever one with Immortality—
Ever a new bubble of Bliss on the Sea of Infinity—
Never to be lost throughout all of Eternity—
The only Changeless, transcending finality.
I am that soul.