Over the weekend, a wonderful young, Zen worker gave my front walkway a facelift, replacing the old, worn out, poorly installed concrete sidewalk with some beautiful new pavers—artfully designed and lovingly installed. Thank you, Rob Roy!
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| Thank you, Rob Roy, for designing and building our new Zen walkway! |
This morning, I am enjoying the surprisingly cool air and the peaceful ambiance while having my inner time out here. As I listen to the sounds of the birds—and the sounds of the traffic—I am reminded of the saying that opinions are like @$$holes. Everyone has one.
In my opinion, the bird sounds, and the gentle singing of the leaves blowing in the breeze, are sounds of nature, and the traffic sounds (both near and distant) are not.
Seng-ts’an said there is no need to seek the truth—just put a stop to your opinions. If his name is new to you, an internet search will reveal that his life was lived in the late sixth century, and he was the third patriarch of the early Chan (Zen) lineage in China. One teaching story about his life is that he had leprosy when he met his teacher, Hui-k’o, when Hui-k’o asked Seng-ts’an what he could possibly want since he had leprosy.
According to one website, Seng-ts’an is supposed to have replied, “Even if my body is sick, the heart-mind of a sick person is no different from you heart-mind.” Impressed by this response, Hui-k’o accepted Seng-ts’an as his disciple, and later named him his spiritual successor.
It probably comes as no surprise that our earth is under some stress right now. That is something a lot of people have a lot of opinions about. I have a few of my own. Yesterday I took this photo of some beautiful trees, all of which had been brutally maimed to accommodate utility lines. As the horror of the butchering came into my awareness, I heard these words of wisdom inside my head, “This could have all been avoided by simply putting the wires underground or realizing how big we would grow to be and planting us in a safe place.”
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| There is a better way…. Utility wires can be underground. |
Both yesterday and today I have drawn the Gecko card, the subtitle of which is: Do What We Must in Struggles. Gecko teaches the importance of righteous anger and the need for proper responses to the causes of that anger. We lessen stress by doing what we can.
We can place utility wires underground and we can plan sufficiently as to give trees room to take root and grow tall and live long and happy lives filled with just the right amount of rain and sun and wind and calm. And we can remember that all humans are a part of nature—rather than a part from nature.
One opinion I hold is what the world needs now is awareness…. My life is dedicated to expanding my own and that of others. I will begin right now by surrendering my opinion in order to let truth find me sitting here on my beautiful new walkway enjoying the early morning air and the sounds of all of nature.
