A weed is a treasure
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars,
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe
is unfolding as it should.
~Max Erhman, Desiderata (I highly recommend reading the poem in it’s entirety)
Buen Dia Compadres,
I hope this finds your new year off to a hopeful and positive start.
Also I’m starting a Substack - an online platform for independent writers and I’m doing it because:
I believe your reading experience will be improved
I will have record of this writing in one place
It will allow me to share with the wider world which, I hope, will help further develop my ideas
You don’t need to do anything, you may just notice a format change. As always, my hope is that something here resonates for you, and that we’re able to keep in touch.
Calmness “For Zen students a weed is a treasure”
I’ve been reading a few pages from Shunryu Suzuki Roshi’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind each morning for a couple weeks now and stumbled across a short chapter titled “Calmness - for zen students a weed is a treasure.”
First, some quick background on Mr. Suzuki - he was one of the pioneers of bringing Zen to the West. He is not espousing new age ideology*, he’s “walked the talk” and his teachings are versed in a very long history of teachers and wisdom handed down through the generations.
My hope is to distill this down for us in a simple and coherent way. Please excuse the inevitable gaps as I’m nowhere near the adept of a Shunyru Suzuki Roshi.
Also, Mr. Suzuki discusses Zen and zazen**, but it doesn’t have to be these forms. There are various frameworks and modalities - “spiritual”, religious, and otherwise. May you experiment and find what works for you.
That said, Shunyru Suzuki Roshi was a zen buddhist, and thus, the topics below will have that framework and may or may not make sense from other perspectives.
Okay, now onto weeds…
Mr. Suzuki talks first about why we complain all the time, and it’s because when a weed, i.e. difficulty, pops up in our life, we aren’t taking the time for contemplation and self-inquiry to properly frame our struggles and to be with what is.
We enthusastically tell the grocery store clerk, “Dude! The pipes in my casita froze and I haven’t had water for five days. I can’t take a shit or a shower in my own home. I stink!”
He says you can’t see the full roundness of the moon until something breaks up it’s outline. There is some felt quality in the seeing of a moon shrouded in clouds, or partly obscured by a tree, or a weed; whereas, when I look at a full moon on a clear night, there’s something beautiful about it for sure, and it’s fullness goes underappreciated.
Just as you can’t know the light until you experience darkness; you can’t experience joy without sorrow; nor know health until you lack it.
We all know this intellectually. I may not be saying anything new to you. Like a lot of this kind of thing you’re going to be saying “no shit".”
Yet without an embodied practice like zazen, without taking time to sit calmly in our life, in slowing down, we can’t properly put today’s dose of inevitable difficulty in context; thus, we complain, and we miss out on the richness, the fullness, that this difficulty may bring our existence.
For zen students a weed, which for most people is worthless, is a treasure. With this attitude, whatever you do, life becomes an art.
pg. 113 “Zen Mind, Beinnger’s Mind”
If we can put right effort towards our difficulties, towards the “weeds” in our life, that is, effort for effort’s sake, these “weeds” point us towards those aspects of us that need care and attention, and or to places where we can learn and grow.
Where life becomes art. We are the directors of our own movie, but we must intend to thoughtfully write the script.
And while perfect zazen is zazen without goals of attainment, the “just trying”, the effort, is already an expression of our true nature. The meaning lies within the effort itself, and it’s perfect. It’s all perfect.
When we discover the meaning behind why we do, be, or act the way we do, then, most everything we do will come from this inner nature, and while it may not be perfect, we may, little by precious little, come to accomplish something… and most importantly, appreciate the journey along the way.
Peace,
~Matt
* No offense to those subscribing to any and or all of the “new age ideology” out there. We’re all just doing our best and it’s all beautiful.
** The term for meditation in the Japanese zen tradition.
p.s. Sometimes, we crave someone to listen to us, to hear us, to care that we’re going through a hard time. A beer, coffee, or a walk with a friend or loved one can do the trick. Asking for help is the opposite of weakness. Maybe we need to ask a professional for help? Maybe we can cultivate calm in order to be that caring presence for someone we love?
p.p.s as always, I appreciate your feedback :-)