...A Thing as Lovely as a Tree

Today I simply want to share one of my morning readings with you from Mark Nepo's book, The Book of Awakening.

Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a great tree in the midst of them all.  Buddha's Little Instruction Book.

"Like everyone, I'd rather not experience the undercurrents of life, but the challenge is not to shun them, but to accept that over a lifetime we will have our share of them.

Avoiding the difficult aspects of living only stunts our fullness.  When we do this, we are like a tree that never fully opens to the sky.  And dwelling on our difficulties only prevents them from going on their way.  When we do this, we are like a great tree that nets the storm in its leaves.

The storm by its nature wants to move on, and the tree's grace is that it has no hands.  Our blessing and curse is to learn and relearn when to reach and hold, and when to put our hands in our pockets."

 

 Stand beside a fully grown tree.  Breathe in its wisdom.

  

 

 

As you watch the tree stay open to wind, feel praise and blame rush you and try to stand like the tree.

 

Breathe deeply, and feel gain and loss circle you and try to open your heart like a branch.

 

  

Breathe slowly, and feel pleasure and sorrow rustle your leaves and try to stand still holding on to none of it.

Nature is one of our best teachers.  If we want to know how life works, observing nature gives us a clue.  I'm not sure it is possible to know everything... so much of life is a mystery.  Maybe that's why I like Mr. Nepo's poetry.  He is trying to explain something that can not be fully explained - experienced yes, explained, not often.

I hope you have an opportunity to stand by a tree this day.  I hope you feel it's great strength and it's supple flow.  I hope your sorrows and joys teach you how to stand and bow.