Infinite Breath, One More Time
Sir Edwin Arnold was a British poet and journalist who lived from 1832 to 1904. He spent years in India, later returned to London, and became known for The Light of Asia in 1879. That book is a long poem that retells the life and teaching of the Buddha in clear English so people in Victorian England could understand Buddhist ideas. It became very popular and helped introduce Buddhism to many readers in the West.
The poem excerpt
“Ye suffer from yourselves. None else compels,
None other holds you that ye live and die,
And whirl upon the wheel, and hug and kiss
Its spokes of agony,
Its tire of tears, its nave of nothingness.”— Sir Edwin Arnold, The Light of Asia, Book Eight
We suffer mainly because of our own clinging and confusion. No outside power forces the cycle. The wheel image is the wheel of repeated habit and consequence. In Buddhist language, this is the wheel of samsara that turns because of craving and ignorance.
Simple line by line meaning
“Ye suffer from yourselves.”
Most of your pain comes from your own mind. From craving, fear, anger, and the stories you repeat.
“None else compels,”
No one else is forcing you to suffer.
“None other holds you that ye live and die,”
Nothing outside you is keeping you trapped in the same life patterns. You keep them going.
“And whirl upon the wheel,”
You spin in a cycle of habit and consequence. Think of a wheel that goes around and around.
“And hug and kiss its spokes of agony,”
You cling to the very things that hurt you, like grudges, addictions, or identity battles.
“Its tire of tears,”
The rim of that wheel is sorrow. The visible result is stress and sadness that keep coming back.
“Its nave of nothingness.”
The hub at the center is empty. “Nave” means the hub. The things you chase have no lasting core that can finally satisfy you.
The imagery made simple
- Wheel means the repeating loop of suffering.
- Spokes are the many causes of suffering such as greed, jealousy, pride, fear.
- Tire is the outer ring where pain shows up as visible stress and tears.
- Nave or hub is the center. It is called “nothingness” because when you look for a solid, permanent thing to hold, there is none.
Everyday examples
- You check your phone again and again for praise. It feels good, then it fades. You want more. The wheel keeps turning.
- You replay an old hurt. The more you hold it, the more it holds you.
- You try to buy status to feel safe. The thrill fades. You chase again.
The lesson for practice
- Notice where you are gripping.
- Breathe and loosen your grip a little.
- Choose one kinder action right now.
- Repeat daily. Small honest steps slow the wheel.
When you see the pattern clearly and stop feeding it with clinging and avoidance, the spin weakens. That is the freedom the poem points to.
Spirit of Life
Thank you for the chance.
Thank you for the life.
I love you.
I love myself.
We love each other.
We are one.
Do not force it. Flow.
Sublime is the quiet turning.
This journey is Sublime.
Chu chu chu chu chu
Shu shu shu
Play play play pla
Wigly wigly wigly
Round round round round
Shu shu shu
Mandala.
Path of petal.
From rat race to ring of light,
from sprint to circle,
from hurry to here.
The richest truth says
the whole universe is yours.
All the time you need.
Now is enough.
Little little magic,
little little synchronicities,
like soft bells in the grass
calling us back.
Here we go.
Boom, boom boom bo no bom,
the heart keeps a drum for the sky,
the sky keeps a drum for the heart.
Why too tight, take it easy,
we are going nowhere,
here here here.
She is Universe.
Horse and her, let us go.
I take the mane of presence,
she takes the road of wind,
and we ride until silence smiles.
Again, 14 breaths.
Again, the circle closes
and opens in the same bright place.
One more time.
Life is not a spreadsheet. When we reduce it to machines and metrics, the color drains out. Wonder slips away. Then a small thing arrives out of nowhere and wakes us up. A glance that lands. A song in a shop at the perfect time. A tide pulling horse and rider deeper into play. These are the quiet doors. Synchronicity is how the universe smiles when we stop gripping.
Play is not childish. Play is trust without bargaining. We do not play to get anything. We play to be with what is larger than us. Heart speaks to heart. Joy is the language. Gratitude is the breath. When we loosen control and choose presence, the wheel slows. The circle appears. We remember that meaning is made in motion, not in hoarding.
Transcendence is not escape and not dogma. It is the ordinary becoming luminous because we are fully here. Salt on the lips. Wind in the scarf. A laugh that clears the chest. We are not just minds counting outcomes. We are bodies, voices, rhythms, and a shared field of attention. Let life be raw and generous. Let the magic show itself. Again and again, enough for now.
“Spirit of Life, One More Time by iC7Zi”
We are trained from childhood to run. Family, school, market, screen, they all whisper the same command. Be first, be faster, do not fall behind. Now we build machines that sprint for us. We hire in a frenzy. We say the company must win, the country must win, or we will be left with nothing. Look closely at that speed. Inside it live our old shadows, anger, envy, the fear of being nobody. Capitalism feeds these shadows because rivalry sells. The contest is not equality. The prize is not peace. We are spinning the wheel and kissing its spokes.
There is another way that does not reject the world. In the direct path of awakening you do not throw your emotions away, you look straight through them until their energy turns clear. Rage shows its root as hurt, jealousy shows its root as fear, craving shows its root as emptiness, and each one can be used as fuel for wisdom and compassion. This is the alchemy of seeing. Not a doctrine, a practice in the moment. Breathe. Feel. Let the raw heat become light. Act from that clarity.
Back to the basics. We need one another. Not as dependents, as a weave. Interwoven lives, shared kitchens, shared streets, shared work. Eye contact that does not measure. Help given without a ledger. The simple life is not small. It is precise. Enough food, honest work, unhurried sleep, a child laughing in the next room, a neighbor you can call at midnight. From this ground, technology becomes a tool again. It does not own the hour or define the goal.
Keep the machines, but put them in their place. If an algorithm cannot help a child sleep, if it cannot soften a widow’s grief, it is clever but not wise. Let AI lift the dull weight so humans can do what only humans can do. Hold a hand. Listen without a timer. Make a meal. Keep a promise. Create beauty that does not ask permission.
This is the mirror. We chase victory and forget each other. We call it progress and go numb. Look, really look. What are you building if you cannot sit in silence with a friend. What is winning if your chest is tight and your face has no joy. Do you want a life that is fast, or a life that is alive.
Choose the bond. Choose the practice that turns heat into light. Choose a simple happy life and protect it like fire. Let the magic return, not as a trick, as the natural shine of an unworried heart. Then play, not to gain, to belong to what is larger than you. Again and again, one breath at a time.
Lower entropy means fewer leaks of energy and more love in motion. Clean inputs. Clear agreements. Simple rhythms. A heart that can meet the moment. Choose the bond over the boast. Choose presence over speed. Choose a simple happy life and guard it like fire.
Quick test. Did this make things clearer and kinder. Are you less distracted.
