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Nothing that I am about to say is original in the least ...
The one true refuge and peace is to leap through all thoughts of coming and going, birth and death, sickness and health, ups and downs. In Zazen, one can know our still and flowing nature at the heart of it all, at the center of all opposites. Our lives seem to come and go, fortunes rise and fall, time appears to tick away, yet there is this which never comes nor goes, can never be lost or gained, is not measured by time. Here, there is no getting older, no illness or despair, even as we live in this world where all that seems to be the case. Yes, there is fear sometimes in our lives ... but also this taste of nothing to fear at all, of some treasure which can never be lost, a view where there is no passing. Sometimes, when we are very frightened, it is possible to be in this place as our shelter, and fear falls away as the storm blows all around us. I have often taken shelter here.
Some call this "Buddha," or by 10,000 other names or no name at all. Sometimes we can experience so, feel this so clearly, and other times we can only trust or go on vague memory ... but it is so.
In the meantime, here in the world, let us help each other and be kind. Please comfort those who are afraid or need help, offering a gentle word or a hand. Appreciate this life, and this rare opportunity that events have given us to take stock and slow down. It will be okay. Try to feel a profound gratitude for ... or, at least, a respectful acceptance of ... ALL OF IT, THE WHOLE SHOW, even the moments and aspects that we struggle with. Allow with equanimity the times which scare or sadden us. Springtime follows the winter, and the world finds its ground and leaps back to life.
What is at the heart of both spring and winter, yet unbound by all passing seasons?
When I am afraid and hurting, this is my comfort too.
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