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Pink Flowering Dogwood
Note: This writing refers to "Truth" and "Realization." The first can be understood abstractly (i.e., Buddha Nature, Love, Christ Consciousness, Radiance) or anthropomorphically (i.e., God, Christ, Spirit, Creator, Great Spirit, True Self, Self). "Realization" refers to an experiential knowledge of - this is beyond conceptual understanding. Realization is often spoken of as an end-point. My position is it is a continuing non-point, partly for I find no reason to assume there is an end to realizing Truth either in this human realm or otherwise. Likewise, we are realized where we are at any point in time, and realization is never stable, for, like the Way, it is moving, changing moment-to-moment.
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Today's Saying: Where do we begin on the spiritual journey? We begin where we begin, and we keep beginning. We are always dying to the past and living to the present - we have no other choice.
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In the Forward to the late Korean Zen Master Dadhaeng Sunim's No River to Cross, Chong go Sunim tells of an early experience of Dadhaeng's, while she was living in a forest as a teen and seeking the Truth -
One day she suddenly found what she had been searching for: it was already within her, and had always been within her. It was so warm and wonderful that she called it appa, which means "Daddy." This wasn't the father whom she didn't dare let see her, the father who seemed to have no love at all for her; it was the inherent nature that made her, her true nature, the true doer. She cried and cried, calling out "Daddy! Daddy!" filled with joy at knowing that her true parent, her inherent nature, had always been with her.
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Later, Dadhaeng heard the Voice of this she called "Daddy!" She was unable to understand what the Voice said; she needed more time to grow into that insight -
Sunim felt that "Daddy," her inherent nature, was more precious than anything else in the entire world, and kept insisting, "I want to see you." In response, the thought arose from deep within her: "Look in a mirror, I am there." No matter how many times or how long she looked in the mirror, the only thing she saw was her own face. Nothing else. She was completely baffled. She had never heard any Dharma [Buddhist Teaching] talks or studied any sutras [Buddhist Scriptures], and couldn't understand what she was experiencing. Later Sunim recalled, "Even though I was around eighteen years old at that time, I still didn't understand the true meaning of that."
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The Way of Truth is organic. The Way is always the same, yet It grows. The Way is self-sufficient, yet we cultivate It. Our cultivating the Way is the Way cultivating us. We do our part.
We cannot begin at the end of realization of Truth - if there is an end; we start at the beginning. Every moment is a new beginning. The Way is always being born anew. Resurrection is continous.
We understand from where we can understand. Our understanding may seem immature to some, yet it is understanding. We give words to that understanding. These words reflect our point of knowledge. As insight grows, words change to fit it. Some words will be kept with new understanding attached, some words will be left behind.
There is no need to fear the change of insight or words. This is expansion. Be cautious of any system which discourages such expansion, seeking to keep hallowed only its sacred writings, teachings, and ways. You cannot fit Truth anywhere, yet all ways fit within Truth, even the ways that poorly reflect Truth.
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This growth is natural. Simply, daily, being where you are means moving from where you are and starting again. From where you are, you will see more, and more. Just be true to now, trust, and act on what you know - but do not attach to being the doer. And, remember, walking the Way is always walking, even when you are resting.
If someone asked me, "Where can I go to learn about the Way?" ... Go to a garden. See how a garden is a garden and becomes a garden. The garden is my witness. Every plant in the garden speaks forth the Way. Do we listen? It speaks regardless, as do all things in the natural sphere. Nature speaks forth Truth better than any holy book.
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*© 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.
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