Seeing the Flower

A Prayer of Single-mindedness:

Gracious God,
As I prepare myself for meditation, I open my heart and my mind to you. Give me vision which sees the path you would have me walk. Give me knowledge which understands your commands. And give me understanding which places your Word upon my soul. Amen

Reading: "Flower Insights" Thich Nhat Hahn

There is a story about a flower which is well known in the Zen circles. On day the Buddha held up a flower in front of an audience of 1,250 monks and nuns. He did not say anything for quite a long time. The audience was perfectly silent. Everyone seemed to be thinking hard, trying to see the meaning behind the Buddha’s gesture. Then, suddenly, the Buddha smiled. He smiled because someone in the audience smiled at him and at the flower. The name of that monk was Mahakashyapa. He was the only person who smiled, and the Buddha smiled back and said, “I have a treasure of insight, and I have transmitted it to Mahakashyapa.” That story has been discussed by many generations of Zen students, and people continue to look for its meaning. To me the meaning is quite simple. When someone holds up a flower and shows it to you, he wants you to see it. If you keep thinking, you miss the flower. The person who was not thinking, who was just himself, was able to encounter the flower in depth, and he smiled.

Meditation:

This is a quintessential Zen Buddhist story. Among the things to be learned from the Buddhist way is the necessity of just being in a moment. Sometimes not thinking is the way to go.

--How can you turn off your mind once in a while and just see the flower?

--Can you practice, this week, such moments of “mere experience?” Find an object that pleases you, and just enjoy it. Do something you enjoy, and just enjoy it. Don’t worry about other things you could or should be doing. Just be.

A Prayer of Joy:

Creator God,
Your world is beautiful! Help me to see the flowers, the hills, the other beauty which surrounds me. Give me moments of peace, and moments of tranquility, so that I may appreciate the earth which you made. I thank you for it all. Amen