With No Mind

With no-mind, blossoms invite the butterfly;
With no-mind, the butterfly visits the blossoms.
When the flower blooms, the butterfly comes;
When the butterfly comes, the flower blooms.
I do not "know" others;
Others do not "know" me.
Not-knowing each other we naturally follow the Way.

-      18th Century Japanese poet, Ryokan

 

 

In western culture, so much of our experience is academic. At least among the fortunate-not-so-fortunate folks.  By that I mean the ways we are taught to understand the world around us.  We are given books to read, memorize all-to-often and assimilate.  Those of us who went the college route got through by pure memorization.  Rote.  We do know we retain only 15% of what we learn. Perhaps we need to learn another way?

 

Experiential, hands on learning is valuable.  The mind/body absorbs the information and the whole body retains it.  We know each cell has a brain and that learning is not limited to the brain in the head.  Perhaps we need to learn another way? Now.

 

Remember the last time you were outside.  Watched a butterfly?  Observed a flower blooming?  You didn't have to 'think' about it.  Or analyze it.  You observed natural processes.  You were one with them.  Your blood pressure lowered.  There was no fight-to-flight mechanism igniting.  You felt peace.  Yourself. 

 

You can bring this all back.

 

Naturally follow the way.