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Observing the waxing and waning of the seasonal moon and its reflections... |
| The title of this blog, “Apricot Moon,” is inspired by meditations on the Chinese lunar calendar as presented in The Lunar Tao, Meditations in Harmony with the Seasons, by Deng-Ming Dao. In spite of its roots, the purpose of the blog is not to propagate an “ism.” It does not require any familiarity with Asian philosophy, or, for that matter, invite agreement or disagreement with any particular point of view. This is meant to be an observance of the passing of both the internal and external seasons, an examination into the myriad events and changes occurring in those seasons, an exploration of a landscape in which discovery and contemplation may be revealed and celebrated. May it also be a place where many voices can be heard, a meeting place for those who try to write eloquently and live genuinely. Here, then, are the recurring phases of the Apricot Moon… |
| The pomegranate is a Chinese symbol of fertility, and my thoughts in this moon revolve around the idea of spiritual fertility. How do we cultivate our true nature, our Real Self? Is there a place of true peace within us? Does it even exist? Are we able to find it? What does living in harmony with one’s true nature and not moving away from it really look like? In the Zen Buddhist tradition, living in accordance with one’s true nature means abiding in the mind of meditation (as much as possible), keeping the Precepts in order not to harm living beings (including oneself), and living in a way that benefits both self and other. The Taoists believe that there is a place inside of us where we feel most free and content, but we abandon that place to follow fame, a career, or another person. Not that these pursuits are inherently bad in themselves, but in doing so we often lose touch with ourselves. Somewhere along the road, we feel caught or stuck, and we natuarally long for the freedom to be ourselves and live in peace. That spark of longing, that desire for freedom, that sense of existential constraint, can be summed up in the words of Tao Qian (367-427), a Taoist poet: A caged bird misses the old forest. A fish in a pond misses the old waters. Tao Qian’s solution was to retire to a country life; he moved to a small farm, worked the land, drink wine, cultivate chrysanthemums, and wrote poetry. These activities were his expression of the inner peace that he found and manifested as a result of ‘escaping the net,’ abandoning the entanglements of ordinary society with its striving and scheming. He remarks, For too long I was shut in a cage. I only hope that my wishes won’t be thwarted. What is the best I can do? How authentically can I live my life? How deeply can I reach for something truly real? How can I best help myself and the beings around me? Most of us do not live in the place that Tao Qian describes. All manner of forces drive us: social, political, familial, economic, emotional, karmic. These are our experiences, the warp and woof of our lives. Still and all, we long for spiritual freedom and truth. Given the diversity of humankind, different people will have different answers to the questions posed above. There is no one way of expression that fits everyone. But we all have the same question, albeit with different variations. A Buddhist teacher wrote: The life of birds is the sky. The life of fish is the ocean. If we can dream about it, we can reach for it; if we reach for it, we come closer to it; the closer we get, the more it beckons us. And the more it beckons us, the seeming distance diminishes. After all, we are already living within it, are we not? May we all find a way to realize this. |
| As the Plum Moon of April waxed and wane, the verses of the gospel song, Down By the Riverside, boomed and reverberated in my mind: “Gonna lay down my sword and shield Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Gonna lay down my sword and shield Down by the riverside Ain't gonna study war no more.” In the Christian Bible, the Prophet Isaiah declares, ““They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift sword up against nation, nor shall they learn war anymore.” This verse celebrates the wandering Israelites crossing the River Jordan and entering into the Promised Land. More than two millennia later, in the time of the American Civil War, the same event was called to remember in that famous song: “Gonna stick my sword in the golden sand
Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Gonna lay down my sword and shield Down by the riverside Ain't gonna study war no more.” John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the River Jordan. In metaphor, the image of the “long white robe” evokes entering into the waters of Jordan, spiritually cleansing and purifying the soul in preparation for entry into heaven: “Gonna put on my long white robe
Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Gonna put on my long white robe Down by the riverside Ain't gonna study war no more.” This admonition to disarm prior to entering the sacred waters of salvation runs through many of the great teachings of this world. A Taoist master writes, If you want to pray, let go of your spear. If you want to bow, unstrap your armor. To live with an open heart and spirit, one must lay down the armor of power and aggression, of striving and competition, and learn to live in peace and harmony with oneself and one’s fellow beings. But what happens when we try to do that? What happens if the world doesn’t want to be peaceful? How do we live without armor, but also without burying our heads in the wet concrete of apathy, despair, indifference, or cynicism? We all witnessed the horrific images of a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd as he begged for breath and cried for his mother until he died. I wept for him, at the brutality of such an act. Such cruelty and indifference to human life and suffering is appalling and outrageous. George Floyd died and the police killed him outright, in the open streets of Minneapolis, in front of the whole world. Since then, many cities around the country have exploded in protest, many of them turning violent. Some state governments have called out the National Guard to suppress the “unrest,” federal leaders t have responded with callous, unskillful responses that have inflamed the conditions and made them far worse. The African-American community is bleeding and crying out for justice. And many citizens of all colors are seeing in stark relief the oppression of an unrestrained law enforcement that perpetuates racism and kills citizens. The system is immoral, unsustainable, and crumbling. In the name of all that is good and just, a log-overdue change must come. When? How long must people suffer? ‘Laying down sword and shield’ in such a world is a tall order. Having an open heart, dedicating oneself to the sacred in daily life, disarming, finding lasting peace in oneself and in the world seems impossible. The deaths of George Floyd, Breeona Taylor, and Ahmad Aubery (and countless others) have deeply grieved and outraged many people. Their gratuitous deaths have summoned a passionate response, and in the midst of such deep passion it has become all too easy to hate those people who perpetrate this obscenity: hate the police, hate white men, hate the state, hate the government, hate, hate, hate. The moral outrage and righteous anger are intelligible in the light of brutal system that allows its agents to kill with impunity, and the reciprocal response of anger and hatred brings more fuel to the fire already present. The Buddha described the mind that thinks, “This is an enemy; this is someone who does not deserve happiness; this is someone who deserves every misfortune…” like a partially burnt log from a funeral pyre. It has already been cut from a tree and taken from the forest, so it can never be returned there, and it is so damaged from fire that it can’t possibly be turned into useful timber. Clearly, there are people, communities, regimes, situations towards which it seems impossible to feel any sense of loving kindness; we perceive them as cruel, nasty, vindictive, punitive, and vicious, and their actions confirm this. In such circumstances, are resentment and rage understandable? Yes. Passionate outrage? Ditto. Are these actions unconscionable? Definitely. Should something be done? Absolutely. But..... here is a place to take a breath and reflect. Hatred is an affliction, a disease, a sickness. Succumbing to hatred results in injury to ourselves and those around us. It generates more, not less, suffering to any situation, acting like gasoline to stoke the flames of anger and hatred ever higher, spreading it ever farther and faster. It also accomplishes the task of those who ignorantly, indifferently, or deliberately wish to cause harm. It simplifies everything by turning beings into objects. Solutions to situations generated by anger and hatred usually have tragic consequences. Yet something must happen and here must be justice. What is to be done? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ1gHm8v3ek . |
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