listen to the hum

beneath,

its unstruck chords

offer full silence

note by absent note

it can play you into existence.

~Amara George Parker

what did I forget to bring with me into this life?

inquiry for today~ what does breaking free mean to you now?

under feelings

Dogen writes- “All sparks and flames exist at the place and at the time that blue lotus flowers open and spread. Beyond the time and place of blue lotus flowers, not a single spark is born, and not a single spark has vivid life.” In each moment that we remember to enact our deepest desire to be of help, a spark is born. Beginning with the smallest of sparks, our bodhisattva life blooms, becoming a fire that illuminates our understanding. At first, our sparks may be fleeting, but their source is universal buddhanature, which nourishes our effort and sustains our bodhisattva vow. We ignite the fuel of the bodhisattva’s compassionate wish, which in turn feeds the flame of alchemic transformation; in the midst of samsara (cycles of birth and death), we make the effort to change the rough ore of delusion into gold.

~Shinshu Roberts