This morning I woke up to the first day that seems to be truly Fall instead of a preview of Fall. The sun came up while I was sitting, but it's one of those gray drizzly days and the humidity no longer makes the air seem heavy, but fresh and clear, and carries a bit of a chill.
The windows in the Center's Zendo were open and much of my sitting was accompanied by the soft patter of rain in addition to the feel of the breeze on my skin. One of the thoughts that drifted through my 'thinking not thinking' mind (well, it does happen occasionally) was that for a long time my sittings have been in an 'outdoor air' environment and that that was going to change soon. (At Antaiji, even though the Hondo has it's walls, windows, and doors, the outside air and whatever weather it carried seemed to make it in.)
...Today my body was startled at the start of the Four Vows, though I hadn't been sleeping, just settled deeply in a sense of spaciousness.
After the sitting I sat outside for awhile, enjoying the morning's fresh air and studying the trees. It struck me that seasons can be thought of as the Earth's slow breathing -- spring and fall, inhalation and exhalation, and summer and winter, the spaces between, and how it seemed like the Earth had been holding it's breath for much of the summer. How that breath seems the same no matter where I am on the planet.
I'm reminded of a line out of Uji... "The momentary passing of spring..inevitably passes, moment by moment, through spring itself." Right now, this moment that is now is passing through Fall...
Is it fair to say that the seasons are an expression of the Earth's Buddha Nature? That seems just about right to me...
The Weather Channel says it's 56 oF with 94% humidity and a North wind at 15 mph. Sunrise was at 6:38 am.
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