For me, working in the garden or preparing small plants for their own transformation is close to what we call Zen. Of gaining an appreciation found in and through nature through what we do for ourselves. Often people will drive by and seeing me in the front yard will say, “That looks like a lot of work”. I tell them no it is a labor of love.
It is influenced by the simplicity of the Chinese philosophy and Tao or Dao, the Way. For many, me included time in the garden is as close to meditation, or for some prayer as possible. It’s like the garden, i.e., universe showing itself as the scripture of Zen. Living in the moment (this moment), defining what we sense as something called religion as nothing more or nothing less than gaining an appreciation of the infinite beyond us.
Gardening and caring for the environment are the greatest extension of our intent to express abundance and appreciation for nature. The path of Zen becomes our path. The path of Lao, Chuang, and Lieh Tzu, as well as many others, who many of us will meet here in the coming weeks and months will serve as our guides.
Nature brings us to a clarity of vision to see, appreciate, and understand what is important to what we call longevity. Any sense of individual self-importance dissolving into one central question. How is it we are contributing our time and talents to the infinite universe that fulfills our desire to become something or someone we might not presently understand, but need to go beyond, to who we think we are to someone better?
Our spiritual attainment, such as it is, will always be limited for those who seek God only for himself. William Blake the great writer once asked, “Has thou attuned thy being to humanity’s great pain, O Candidate for Light?”. It is here that for the Buddhist it became necessary to emulate what is called the bodhisattva vow. That we are here until all of us become enlightened and that we are to do our part and assume the role we are here to play.
Abandoning those things that do not allow others to find abundance for themselves. As I have relayed before the Universe itself is the scripture of Zen. The appreciation of the infinite in every moment. Just as with all things, we can show but cannot do it for others. Often the answer is acknowledging complimentary opposites and letting things play out as they should. The answer lies within each of us to find for ourselves. We can open the door though through nature, gardening and tending to what small plants can then teach us.
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