Bhikshuni Vijaya: Keep Going

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?

I did as she told me, and went on circling the hall.

If you find yourself partly in and partly out—

if you find yourself drawn to this Path and also drawing away—

I can assure you, you’re in good company.

Just keep going.

Sometimes the most direct path is not a straight line.

This verse is adapted by Matty Weingast from the Therigatha, a Buddhist text consisting of a collection of 73 short poems of women who were senior nuns. The poems date from a three hundred year period, starting in the late 6th century BCE. It is the companion text to the Theragatha, verses attributed to senior monks. It is the earliest known collection of women’s literature composed in India.

Source: Great Middle Way