Open Eyes
“Come to me, come to me, open your eyes, look at yourself with open eyes” Shakyamuni Buddha, The Lotus Sutra
In the start of this new year, I am re-engaging with the Creative Spirit, the God of my understanding. My desire is to see clearly – how I relate with others, with myself, and with the world in its many variations. How can I bring myself fully to this moment and bring my active relationship with Spirit to this moment.
I read chapter of Right Seeing in Dainin Katagiri’s Each Moment Is The Universe, and the above quote jumped out to me. Called to me. Where I live, there is a pond that has lotus growing within. Since it has been unseasonably warm these last few days, I wandered up to the pond to see the current state of being for the lotus’s. Yes, I had a hope of finding a blooming lotus, sitting in the pond, waiting to welcome me. But that was not to be.
The pond still had a film of frozen ice on top from the deep freeze last week. However, where there were the lotus leaves below the surface, the water above had melted the ice above. So I sat on the near by bench to watch, listen, smell, and touch the moment of where I was.
And I thought of how to fully open my eyes. To see myself and to see the world. I am often seeing things with eyes half closed in thought, self-judgement, planning and scheming.
When I focus on my breath, I become close to the moment and my eyes open wider.
I saw the cattails, having busted open to expose their downy.
I saw a bench, across the field, beyond the gathering pyre, beneath the arching branches laid bare by Winter. An offering of a place to sit on my return journey home.
I began my journey back to find a bridge that is no longer used, converted to an area of art.
And I crossed the usable bridge, noticing the water flowing beneath my feet. Heading to join with other streams, merging into a river, that finally flows into the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean so many miles away. Yet that is so far in the future. For now it is here with me.