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In the Light of Compassion
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Be the monarch of your life
and sign the decree
to exile suffering
and call back from all points of the universe
the power of birds and flowers,
the vitality of youth.
The whole universe will smile
when your eyes smile.
*"That Is the Only Mind" (1960). Thich Nhat Hanh. Call Me by My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh.
For no reason at all,
a fat, bright baby
smiles at me.
*Jennifer Hu. The Flow of Peace:
40 Haiku inspired by Zen practice.
The "fat, bright baby" does not hold in mind a reason, a must, or an ought to in smiling. The baby is not trying to smile. The smile has no ulterior motive, for it is pure and spontaneous, the response to another's presence.
The smile is not transactional. The baby is not asking for profit, merit, or a reward. The baby has no thought of pleasing any god by smiling. The smile is neither religious nor nonreligious, spiritual or not, and neither enlightened nor non-enlightened.
The baby offers itself through and as the smile. We could say "baby" or "smiling." For in smiling, there is no space between baby and smile; one cannot find a baby outside the smile or a smile outside the baby. "Baby smiling" is only in this moment of smiling. Many causes and conditions, including all the baby's ancestors and descendants, are in that smile.
The smile means the "I" does not intervene. The "I" intervenes and dilutes. But not so in the case of this smile.
The smile is on the face, for the smile is within the baby. The baby is in the smile, and the smile in the baby, or the poet could not enjoy the smile. A sacred fusion exists between baby, smile, and poet in receiving the smile. The smile is a bridge for travel.
* * *
A mark of the spiritual being is unpretentiousness, meaning no pretending, so no hypocrisy. In such presence, there is a directness and purity. The more we are drawn into the heart, our true self, the more consciousness moves from the self, the separate actor, into the self, the unitive being.
Traditions speak of this "no reason" in varied ways. These include "the flow," "aimlessness," "walking in the Spirit," "being led by the Spirit," and "non-doing." Yet, the baby knows nothing of these traditions or words. And the smile is free of them, too.
* * *
In the baby or smiling, there is no "I." So, the smile is a smile. Have you ever tried to smile and knew you were only faking a smile? The smile is not a smile without your being the smile and the smile being you, and that only happens naturally, not by demand or command.
And, as Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us, the universe smiles back when we smile. A smile penetrates the life around us, even as does an angry scowl or a frown. We bring ease and joy to life when we offer our smile in a self-forgetful moment of quiet bliss. A smile is an act of loving.
We can learn from this baby about our most natural way of being in this world. The baby and the smile can be our teacher, exposing how we might have entrapped our hearts in calculated thought and action and how our hearts want to dance with the wind. The baby and smile can remind us how free we feel when our entire being becomes the doing of our heart, without the obstruction of "I." Is it not true that your most blessed, joyful moments are when you are absent?
* * *
*(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2024. Permission is given to use photographs and writings with credit given to the copyright owner.
*Brian's book is An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love. The book is a collection of poems Brian wrote based on wisdom traditions, predominantly Christian, Buddhist, and Sufi, with extensive notes on the poetry's teachings and imagery.
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