Just This Is Enough

A Zen teacher, Blanche Hartman, has a saying… Just this is enough. To sit with this is a powerful Zen practice. I’ve sat with this… and in theory and some practice, it is very freeing, a form of renunciation. A living where seeking is calmed and meeting each moment with a welcoming embrace arises.

And so the Zen way is practicing. Years ago, when I asked a teacher why the word practice, she replied that in practicing healthy ways day in and day out, when the storm rolls in, we will be firm in our ways to continue them. I envision the stem that connects the flower to life.

Well my storm has rolled in… And I must admit that practice of meeting life’s moments with acceptance, meeting my parts with compassion and love, and watching life scroll by as I sit still with no grasping, has prepared me for the death storm.

Christians have shamed my time studying Zen, yet I have learned that Zen offers many of the hows to Christian beliefs. There is no worshipping another God or self or theory, but a practice to recognizing God and Spirit within this walked life. A way of prayer, meeting our self and our God, walking with dear Spirit.

And as the storm of death blows away, I am here… still, I am here. Yet with me this day, this moment, as life blows past as the breeze, that moment to this moment to this next moment… I sway as the flowers, stemmed to my life force God.

This is not a panacea. I will add, that storms bring agony that rips, loneliness that drains, and death to our door. Sitting within those moments, my being reacts, agitation builds grasping for any relief, screams release begging for their passing. They do blow away, leaving me exhausted and weak, yet relieved that still… I am here, and I AM is still here nurturing, loving, holding me.

Thank you dear Spirit, for speaking this day through the flowers…

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