2024-10-22 I Inquiry I Beauty in the Beginning Middle and the End I Flint Sparks

Appamada

Reflections on a Burnt Match ~ Trudy Johnston What if your life was as brief as a match struck, fierce and bright, maybe helping others to shine, then gone. What if your life was as brief as the spume rising from a crashing wave, as it makes its final flourish. What if your life was as momentary as the shifting shadows on the painting behind the sofa. Would it matter? Would it matter? Did the match, the wave, the shadow matter? They did, in their thereness. The way the air or the light around them shifted. Whole worlds tilting because of this moment because of each moment. The world is made of myriad seen and unseen moments. The one second the cymbal strikes in the orchestra, everything turning around everything else. Bringing the Light (for Judy Parfett) ~ Jo Clarke Slowly the courage grew until, Like the universe, without holding back, The `no’ melted to a ‘yes’, and you shone. No shying away from this pain filled life, With its tsunami of catastrophe. Difficult births and traumatic deaths, Relationships sting and wars take us to our knees. Choosing to embrace all of it, always, without flinching And with a truthfulness, that says it how it is. Your bravery makes our eyes smart. Your honesty an antidote to betrayal and `deep fake`. In offering to restore joy you invited us back to zazen, To sit with all of it, all of life. With your wholehearted embrace of life And your courageous truth telling You light the spaces for us, sparkling and vibrant. We have been gifted your openness and clarity And we come back, sit with you, Upright with possibility. Sitting alongside your unrelenting steadfastness, Your joyful practice radiates warmth, As the spotlight spreads to illuminate all. Thank you for reminding us, we sit for All beings everywhere, and for life as it is. And YOU never shrink from life as it is. View From a Zendo - Post Retreat ~ Ryan Van Wyk The final bell has been rung The final words have been chanted The final bows have been exchanged The retreat supplies returned to their places The assembly has departed I am all that remains A great empty space Only moments ago bursting with life Activity infused with wakeful energy Steady abiding through days of stillness The silence settling in the emptiness feels different Perhaps the silence of presence Is of a different quality than the silence of absence A cry begins to rise within Traveling from the heart to mouth Please return to this place Find your way back to these seats Persist in this practice Continue awakening together