True Story

Thoughts arise,
appear, persist,
disappear and cease
in the same moment
without a trace,
leaving this luminous awareness
unchanged.

We pretend
for awhile
to tell ourselves stories
where we're the main character
in a world populated
by enemies,
strangers and friends.

We construct
from our experiences
the supporting evidence
for that world's reality;
our experiences reflect
our beliefs about who,
or what we really are.

Then we wake up
remembering we've never slept.

Lives arise,
appear, persist,
disappear and cease
in the same moment
without a trace,
leaving this luminous awareness
unchanged.