|
Gentle is the Flow
River de Chute, Easton, ME
* * *
A student asked Suzuki Roshi in dokusan - the one-on-one session with a Zen master-, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?" Roshi replied, "It doesn't matter."
*David Chadwick, Ed. Zen is Right Here.
* * *
So much that does not matter can distract us from the Way. There are many sideshows to the main attraction. Many detours turn out to be dead ends.
While walking the Way is simple, not complicated, it is simple, for it takes simplifying. We cannot have all we want and be devoted to Truth. It takes a lot of dedication to walk the Way devotedly.
When I was a boy and youth, I attended a small Baptist church, and we often saw persons rededicate their lives. The two main reasons to walk down that aisle and meet the pastor after the sermon and during the invitation time were to accept Jesus or rededicate one's life. The first was called often "invite Jesus into your heart" or "get saved." The second was referred to as "rededication of life." This rededication meant you wanted to renew your first love of Christ. We recognized we could lose the zeal and focus of the beginning of following Jesus. Christ would be the center at the start, then get crowded out as zeal waned over time.
From another perspective, rededication is a daily act. It is even a moment-to-moment one - it never ends.
Still, there are times when we need consciously to renew our enthusiasm and attention. We feel our passion has left us, and the mind gets overly occupied. So, it is good when we see this. And, often, we need to stop and consider what does and does not matter. If something is a distraction from the Way, it is a not-matter. This not-matter may not be something we call bad; it may be something we see to be good.
My sense is many of us simplify most as we sense the end nearer. Yet, why not begin earlier? Life is more enjoyable, not less, by simplifying to give yourself more to what matters most.
We can get distracted spiritually with too much. We can get overloaded with spiritual ideas and practices. So, spiritually streamlining is a need often, too.
A Gospel passage speaks of this traveling light, which allows more focus and less distraction. Jesus' instructions were more strict due to the context than we would follow; yet, the simplification he speaks of needs to be practiced by us all to some degree - some of us more, some less. Jesus is sending his students out on their first mission apart from him (Gospel of Mark 6.7ff, GNT) -
Then he called together his twelve apostles [lit., sent ones; i.e., envoys] and sent them out two by two with power over evil [or, harmful] spirits. He told them, "You may take along a walking stick. But don't carry food or a traveling bag or any money. It's all right to wear sandals, but don't take along a change of clothes. When you are welcomed into a home, stay there until you leave that town. If any place won't welcome you or listen to your message, leave and shake the dust from your feet as a warning to them."
* * *
Does the falling tree make a sound when falling with no one to hear it? That is an interesting question. But does it matter? What matters? Matters most?
* * *
*© Brian K. Wilcox, 2021
*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. The book is a collection of poems based on wisdom traditions, predominantly Christian, Buddhist, and Sufi, with extensive notes on the poetry's teachings and imagery.
|
