Nothing stays in orbit forever

Protector of Children

… What mother doesn’t see a Buddha in her child?

… To care for all children

without exception

as though each

will someday

be the one

to show 

us all

the 

way

home.

This is the Path.

-- by Mahapajapati

Guardian

… only see that all these pretty wooden pieces

aren’t you —

and don’t belong to you.

They belong to the game.

I know it’s comforting to count up all the squares,

run your fingers along the edge of the board,

and plan out all your moves ahead of time.

The world beyond the table only seems dark —

like empty space.

It’s okay to be afraid.

-- by Gutta

Victor

When everyone else was meditating,

I’d be outside circling the hall.

Finally I went to confess.

I’m hopeless, I said.

The elder nun smiled.

Just keep going, she said.

Nothing stays in orbit forever.

If this circling is all you have,

why not make this circling your home?…

-- by Vijaya

from the Therigatha (Verses of the Elder Nuns), 600-300 BCE in Pali language

"earliest extant text depicting women's spiritual experiences"

Translation by Matty Weingast