Chiyono was a 13th-century Japanese Zen Buddhist nun for many years, striving hard for enlightenment. One night she was doing her duty, carrying a bucket, which slipped and broke, and in that instant, something shifted. She came to see that clarity arises not from tightly holding on, but from attending to what is right in front of us. Instead of clinging to ideas of who we should be, we’re invited to witness reality as it unfolds.

This way and that way I tried to keep the pail together,

Hoping the weak bamboo would never break.

Suddenly the bottom fell out.

No more water;

no more moon in the water—

Emptiness in my hand.