A Poem: The Sun at One O'Clock

Found in the memory of that day,
Is a moment, a point in time when
The sun stood still,
A precise moment when the sun,
Suspended at one o'clock, expanded in sky
And became, of itself, eternity.

All color was washed out
By the brightness that is sun.
At the sea wall, painted with graffiti
And cracked by quake some years before,
Fishermen stood, still as statues, tribute
To the reality of sun's substance and sustenance.
The sea became glass that slowly rolled,
Brighter than bright, and the whiteness of gulls,
That whiteness that is not white, became shadow
Then vanished into all that is sun.

In that moment day was consumed
By everything sun, the sun
Turning back on itself, announcing
And echoing an immeasurable This -
The precise moment when
The sun was at one o'clock.

Reflections: A Personal Working Definition of Equanimity

Over the last couple of years I have been questioning myself about the nature of equanimity and have found that the following two responses, when combined, are allowing me to be more accepting, and even feeling free and alive, in the situations and circumstances I find myself in.

Equanimity is...

Simultaneously

— Turning into and fully engaging with whatever I encounter in myself in response to life, whether it is comfort or discomfort, fear, anger, joy or suffering. As opposed to denying, running away from, or evasive maneuvering that generates unwanted karma in the future.

And

— Maintaining a broader awareness. This is the awareness and attitude of zazen. This is the buddhas and bodhisattvas.


This is the definition of equanimity that I've been trying out and it seems to be working for me at least at the moment.

Offered with a smile.