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The Kennebec River - Bath, ME
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A seeker said to the Sage, "I'm not sure I want to be in a community. I like being alone. What do you think I should do?" Replied the Sage, "I don't talk should. Anyway, whether alone or not, you're in community. You can't choose to be in or out."
When the Sage spoke, seekers often had no idea what he implied. Often, they thought the Sage was at least a little weird; some thought him more than a little weird. And, as often, this one left disappointed and not to return, looking for someone to give him a more 'satisfying' answer to his question.
*Brian K. Wilcox. "Meetings with an Anonymous Sage."
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In our aspiration for living beings, which some of us voice in prayer or chant, we might think living beings are humans. Living beings include so much more. We might think living beings are only humans and animals. It includes more. Plants and minerals are living beings. We might think living beings speak of creatures visibly sharing Earth now. This, too, is not so. Living beings encompass all seen and unseen life forms. We might think living beings imply beings exclusively in the present. This is not so, yet so, for all beings are present. Our aspiration reaches into the past and future - it is timeless. Living beings in time past and time future are included in our aspiration. In aspiration, we touch both the past and future and the timeless, the relative and the absolute dimensions.
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An interesting anecdote from Thich Nhat Hanh on this matter of living beings, in The Diamond that Cuts through Illusion -
We usually think of our bathroom at home, made of wood, tile, or cement, as inanimate and we have no problem peeing there. But after I studied the Diamond Sutra [a Buddhist scripture] and I saw that wood, tile, and cement are also marvelous and animate, I began to even feel uncomfortable using my own bathroom. Then I had a realization. I realized that peeing is also a marvelous and wondrous reality, our gift to the universe. We only have to pee mindfully, with great respect for ourselves and whatever surroundings we are in. So now I can pee in Nature, fully respectful of the trees, the bushes, and myself. Through studying the Diamond Sutra, I solved this dilemma, and I enjoy being in the countryside now more than ever.
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To see all forms are alive inspires us to approach the world with a new vision. This vision fosters respect for all things and communion with them. Even concrete is alive, as is a mountain or a valley stream. Hence, this does not just mean the outside environment, as so many use the term when we say "Nature." They say things like, "I like being out in Nature." "Nature" signifies everything. If I walk on the dirt or the tile floor, there is Nature - I am walking on life with my feet, life. So, my feet, when walking mindfully, can share communion - even rightly termed holy communion - with the life form the feet move upon. And we think of "upon," when it is better termed "with."
There are many trillions of cells - an estimated over 37 - in our body. Each is a living being, is alive. When we bless all beings, let us bless those cells. Without them, we would not live bodily. We need to appreciate them. They are not merely a means to an end - for us to live. They each have their integrity apart from the whole; this makes it possible for them to be part of the whole. Nothing is present only to make us present. It would be good to take time to give our cells blessing and thanks - "Cells, thank you. I appreciate you. Without you, I would not be alive today. I bless you each. May we together enjoy life and help others enjoy life, too!"
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*©Brian K. Wilcox, 2022.
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
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