A fresh, living situation is actually taking place all the time, on the spot. ... Things speak for themselves, right here and now.
*Chögyam Trungpa. The Sanity We Are Born With: A Buddhist Approach to Psychology.
Once in an ecumenical gathering, I heard a Greek Orthodox priest tell a story of when he was in a monastery on Mount Athos. A senior monk came into the kitchen and wept. When asked why, he said, "Monks, you are handling these carrots as if they are inert matter, when in fact they are precious gifts of God containing all the mysteries of the universe. What a waste!"
*Sister Annabel Laity. Mindfulness: Walking with Jesus and Buddha.
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In an online, interfaith sangha gathering, mainly composed of Christians, I shared a comment. I said, "When you love a rock, you love God." I gave no explanation. Explanation was not needed. Either one has insight into that or not. Such sayings can however spur one toward such wisdom. Explaining can dampen the power of pithy pointers to insight.
Having been raised a Christian and serving in the Church as a pastor for decades before leaving, I realized that possibly no Christian present would think well of what I said, and some might think it outlandish. I do not know. I was not concerned about that.
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Christian Scripture reads "the Word became flesh." Through spiritual practice, we become more down-to-earth, into-flesh. We are not trying to be spiritual levitators, floating about above the world of people and things. Word becoming flesh becomes real, on the spot for us, not merely an idea about what happened centuries ago. Such living grounds us. It humbles us.
Many years as a vowed Christian contemplative and then devoted to a Zen Buddhism path has helped me experience this. But it is not essentially Zen or anything, even as the Word becoming flesh is not essentially Christian or anything. Still, it is true. No group has a copyright on it. Living this way is basic sanity.
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While this wisdom has been around a long, long time, we are taught to split the world between good and evil, spirit and flesh, unseen and seen, ourselves and other... . So, it takes intentionality and dedication to grow more into this I am writing about. It may take a lifetime.
So, we need devotion. Devotion is expressed in wholesome, harmonious action. How we treat carrots matters, for it matters. How we look at a rock matters, for it matters. We can get out of our head and see our communion with matter matters. We may not fathom why, however. But we are okay with that. This is like the difference between eating a meal and eating the menu. When eating a tasty meal, we know. We do not have to stop and explore the why and how.
Devotion does not have to have any particular feeling, like loving or reverential feelings toward the carrot. Devotion is being fully with the carrot; a sense comes with that which is not an emotion, while particular feelings might come and go.
You can hold a carrot like it is a buddha or a christ. How do you do this? You can hold a carrot like a carrot, and that is all you need to do. The carrot speaks. You and the carrot speak in one voice because a meeting occurs. The Word manifests in encountering. Something unspeakable happens in communion.
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When you hold a carrot, look at a rock, smile, drive along the road, or drink a glass of tea or milk, something happens. In Chögyam Trungpa's words, a "fresh, living situation" is happening. A revelation occurs. And this is beyond right or wrong. You do not have to think this through. The Word happens, but you do not need to think about it. Just give yourself wholly to the situation. If you need to change the situation or move from it, that is a situation, so be with that entirely. Do not go absent. Do not fall asleep. Stay awake.
When you do something, do it wholeheartedly. When you greet someone, greet them wholeheartedly. In this way, you are giving yourself away but not losing anything. You do not come away less you. You may feel you received more of yourself, like an expansion occurred. You feel like more you, for you did not hold yourself back. You did not sink into performance mode. You did not play a role. You gave something not separate from your full participation.
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Through these small meetings, we learn to live wholeheartedly. This wholeheartedness means devotion. Devotion means love happens through embodied meeting with matter. Word and flesh meet, greet, and give themselves to each other. This is like two lips meeting. Lovers do not just stand and look at one another. They want to meet beyond the appearance of separation. To do this, they step across the distances. What is absolutely true, they act to actualize.
We do not seek to elevate above flesh as though matter is foreign to a spiritual life. The spiritual life is not about spirit or flesh; it is about how we meet with the stuff of daily life. We become the meeting through wholehearted engagement. We do not go around playing spiritualized hooky. Spirit and flesh discover themselves together in and through us. There is a difference, at least relatively, but there is union already, absolutely. We just need to discover that intimately through action, not in theory. This living is sacramental, it is enlightened living. We are part of it: just look in the mirror.
