Atman

[RiverNotch]

Atman

On your right,
said the docent,

You will see a man reposed
Against an oak. straight question: what's the significance of the oak? with that title, i would think that a bo tree would be more appropriate. 

His wizened face
catching the dense shade
from the wooded canopy a comma might clean up the boundary between the two lines. and i think the from here should be of

but the path beneath him is lit i feel like the contrast between the dense shade and the brightly lit path should be more explicit. i sort of agree that this line is a bit too didactic to hit as punchily, but i for one don't really mind -- you could try to hide this, though, integrating the lit path using a more natural object.

And on your left
you may find a past maybe a more straightforward parallel? usually, dichotomies like these present a comparison of two things, "on your right is a woman, on your left is a man". or at least, if not that, you could make this whole more concrete -- the suddenness of the abstraction, for me, robs this part of its potential power.

there is much there
a landfill of memory

Keep your eyes closed
mind open
and we may spot the future not-very-literary comment: though spotting the future is an important thing, i would say, at least with my rather not-so-deep knowledge of the atman, that something more profound should be spotted here, something that much more strongly evokes a sense of oneness, of unity, i suppose is being very subtly presented through the forest. proper crit: if the "on your left" thing was more concrete, this stanza's significance would seem more enlightening.

It’s rumored to dwell in these woods again, if the "on your left" thing continued to present a concrete image of the woods, i think these last lines maybe more powerful.