Marvelous Nature

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. - Aristotle in the Zen Calendar (August 22, 2004).

Day 256. I feel like my friend Whitney after she learned how long I had been in analysis. She said, "Wow. That's a long time. I would have gone for two sessions and said, 'I'm out - got nothin' more to say.'" After 255 blogs, I am tempted to write "I'm out - got nothin' more to say." Alas, I have 110 more blogs to write. Better think of something.

I spent the day at the Wichita Wildlife Refuge tramping through nature with my friend Jim. We saw upwards of 30 bison during our eight-mile tramp. We were so close to a few of them we could have . . . well . . . I'll just say the photos did not require a zoom lens. We saw longhorn but no elk, and turkey vultures and a painted bunting and a brilliant multi-colored lizard a gentleman on the trail told us was called a "boomer." I think that is probably its state nickname rather than the proper Latin derivative.

Time spent in nature passes like my time on the cushion. Everything falls away, and the moment just Is. I suspect that is why it is difficult to produce from the keyboard tonight. My consciousness has been about as far from my left brain as it can go without actually alighting on Nirvana. I could really feel the presence of my practice today. The past 255 days of zazen accompanied me on the trek. There was a remarkable absence of thought and speech. The emptiness this created was filled with sun, sky, boulders, scrub oak, wildflowers, and crunchy trail beneath my feet. No thought, no words, no expectations, no aspirations. Just four legs flowing along the trail. A couple pairs of eyes taking in the glorious panorama. Occasional observations shared in a harmonious British accent.

At the moment, it feel sacrilegious to devote any more effort to arranging letters in order to form words. Instead, I will sit, breathe and watch bison dance behind my eyelids.

Gassho,
CycleBuddhaDoc