Heaven is ancient
Earth is long-lasting
Why is this so? Because they have no claims to life
By having no claims to life they cannot be claimed by death
The Sage puts his own views behind so ends up ahead
He stays a witness to life so he endures
What could he grab for that he does not already have?
What could he do for himself that the universe itself has not already done?

                                                                Jonathan Star, Translator

it’s the end of a perfect day
for surfer boys and girls
the sun’s dropping down in the bay
and falling off the world
there’s a diamond in the sky
our evening star
in our Shangri-La

get that fire burning strong
right here and right now
it’s here and then it’s gone
there’s no secret, anyhow
we may never love again
to the music of guitars
in our Shangri-La

tonight your beauty burns
into my memory
the wheel of heaven turns
above us endlessly
this is all the heaven we’ve got
right here where we are
in our Shangri-La

this is all the heaven we’ve got
right here where we are
in our Shangri-La

Our Shangri-La, Mark Knopfler

Chapter 7 of the Tao Te Ching speaks of that which has removed its own selfishness from the view and so witnesses impersonally; it has no desire to grab what it already has, it has no desire to do for the self what has already been done. We all have that witness in us.

The witness to life knows we can bloom where we’re planted, accept what we have, and be aware of, and content with, our own being as a graceful, integral part of creation.

We all experience separation in what appears to be the irreconcilable difference of being a separate self. The moment we put that view behind us, we see what is in front of us. We witness life as it is, join it, and because “heaven is ancient and earth is long lasting,” we endure, here, in the heaven we’ve got right here where we are.