As You Are

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

The sun is just now peaking out over the building next door to my Zendo window. I feel its heat on my face. There is something so reassuring about the sun rising in the morning. I have written about this before. For me it signals that I can relax. I've made it through the night.

For many of us, going to sleep does not mean we will for certain wake up again. Coming to sleep with this attitude is only possible when we are at peace with this moment. We must be willing to say and believe completely, this is enough. I have such an understanding, but it was not always so. Striving and desiring, craving for another day to make my mark, to do something wonderful, or to avaid a mistake, fix a problem, these were feelings that got in the way of rest.

With life, however, our true sphere of influence is revealed. It begins and ends in our own skin. Our true task is to master that sphere. With this realization, the wonder of a simple breath takes on incredible significance. The beauty of sitting at a desk or walking down a corridor or listening to a talk or building something or unpacking something becomes the beginning and the end: it is, in itself, fully and completely sufficient.

I am learning to feel what is there. The plastic keys of this computer, its casing as I rest my fingers and palms between words and thoughts, are each complete moments in them selves worthy of both recognition and respect. To do this well means recognizing the slippery slope of mental travel and letting the slope be by itself.

Be well.