The world is vast
and the body and breath are spacious
when we are at ease with ourselves and others
Michael Stone, from his lovely book, Awake in the World
photo of early morning sun in Glendalough, on a beautiful Saturday in October which reminded me of Rilke :
I would like to step out of my heart
and go walking beneath the enormous sky.
When things in work start to overwhelm me and cause a struggle, or when someone does something that causes fear, I notice that two things tend to happen – I get a type of tightening or contraction in the body and a feeling of speeding up in the mind. So this poet’s petition is a nice one to echo on this Saturday morning: Let the day begin gently, and let space enter in, expand and slow me down. Let the leaves fall one by one, and may their letting go permeate into my bones.
We do not have to learn how to contract; we find it easy to turn away, to freeze and to blame…
We do have to practice letting go and holding the heart open, to learn how to soften:
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
Robert Frost, from October.
photo david mastin
We spend a lot of time creating suffering through imagining scenarios that never actually come to pass. These can be with us even as we get up in the morning. One way the different traditions try to help with this is by encouraging us to drop into the natural calm that lies beneath the restless thoughts – our natural wakefulness, our “true face”. Being mindful is something intrinsic to the mind, not something foreign we are trying to bring in. It is like sinking below the ripples on the surface of the lake and finding calm depths beneath.
In this high place, it is as simple as this,
leave everything you know behind.
Step toward the cold surface, say the old prayer of rough love
and open both arms.
Those who come with empty hands
will stare into the lake astonished
there in the cold light, reflecting cold snow
the true shape of your own face
David Whyte, Tilokal Lake
I spent the weekend in Glendalough and was able to walk in nature early in the morning among the trees and rivers. Some say even the rocks there vibrate with life. It was easy to feel grace and see wonder, just as we did as children. So what we strive for in our working days – in the “chambers of commerce” – is to remember that beauty and grace are never far from us. They are in the leaf, the stone, the heart. If we listen, there is wonder all around, and it sings. Can we hear it today?
What can I say that I have not said before? So I’ll say it again.
The leaf has a song in it.
Stone is the face of patience.
Inside the river there is an unfinishable story
and you are somewhere in it
and it will never end until all ends.
Take your busy heart to the art museum and the chamber of commerce
but take it also to the forest.
The song you heard singing in the leaf when you
were a child is singing still.
I am of years lived, so far, seventy-four,
and the leaf is singing still
Mary Oliver, What can I say?
Become totally empty. Let your heart be at peace.
Amidst the rush of things coming and going,
observe how endings become beginnings.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
To see beginnings and endings is a great support in difficult times. Early on, as I began to trust in the fiber of my being that nothing lasts, I became less afraid of pain. The fact that everything has an end comforted me. “One way or another,” I would say to myself, “this too will pass.” I was glad I saw that…the end of the day is the beginning of the night, and that a dead rose becomes compost for new growth….When I recognize the pain I feel as the legitimate result of loss, I am respectful of its presence and kind to myself. My mind always relaxes when it is kind, and around the edges of the truth of whatever has ended, I see displays of what might be beginning.
Sylvia Boorstein
photo dominicus johannes bergsma
Sometimes it is hard to see what what is really going on in our lives or where they are leading to. Underneath, something is happening. We just have to be patient for it to emerge.
If you break open the cherry tree
Where are the flowers?
But in the Springtime
see how they bloom!
Ikkyu, 1394 – 1481 Japanese Zen monk and poet
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