Spring in Kansas City can be pretty nice. In the early mornings, when it's still very cool, you can see the doves, their feathers all puffed up, waiting for it to warm up. And, to my annual amazement, we get clumps of wild violets, tiny little flowers, all over the yard! Some (like the one pictured here) are white with blue markings, and some are a deeper blue all over, with black markings.
There's a little piece of a Zen poem that often gets quoted (when you take precepts in the Kwan Um School, you will find this on your precepts certificate):
Good and evil have no self-nature.
Holy and unholy are empty names.
In front of the door is the land of stillness and light.
Spring comes, the grass grows by itself.
In response to my post of a couple of days ago, in which I chew (at great length!) on the questions of Human Freedom, and Ultimate Endings, my friend Ted Mehl (philosopher and dharma brother) gave me a wonderful and wise Zen diagnosis: Too Much Thinking! He's correct, of course. Thinking is a wonderful human capacity, and it can accomplish great and beneficial things... but it can be misused, sometimes contributing greatly to human suffering.
Many times, the task is simply to observe our thoughts for what they are (they are only thoughts), sit quietly, and let the violets emerge from the ground, all by themselves.
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