The Dog’s Dharma
Yesterday we said goodbye to our old hairless Xolo. It was time and while there are details of the circumstances and her passing … this is not an episode of Gray’s Anatomy nor is it sweeps week. Thus the need to stir up our innate pain is not on the agenda.
Every memont (me+moment) of our experience is an opportunity to awaken to Life and the quiet gentle flow of our True Nature. Though the notion that our essence is Bliss and Balance can make us mistake our pain and fear for something far removed from the state of Grace. And yet all of it seems to be a necessary part of our journey. The perfection in our circumstances does not come from the pair matching of our ego’s desire and the happy ending of our prime time episode. The naked truth is when we see our struggle is not linked to external sound bytes and circumstances … but our internal conversations and expectations that Life should look and feel some other way.
Taco led a simple life filled with Zen koans of paws and Pause. She seemed to embrace the is-ness of the moment … be it alms at the dining room table or the Alzheimer’s that was the essence of beginner’s mind in her final days. It’s hard not to create a microcosm of all the suffering we feel around one dharma dog’s passing. The headlines remind us of the unnecessary deaths, we watch our loved ones process their own personal pain and it touches our heart, we are reminded of those we have lost from our lives through chaos or crisis. But in truth all of that is background noise. Ruminations of our pain body that rises up with a bull horn whenever it thinks it has a captive audience.
On the flip side of course, we could plunge into gratefulness and fill our thoughts with blessings counted. The good thoughts certainly feel better to process than our pain. If not gratitude, then attitude as we stir the pot of anger and powerlessness. Because DOING something … feels more natural than accepting there is NOTHING to do. Nowhere to get to. And of course .. very little to say. Which would make for low Nielsen ratings and our mind so wants to bait our attention away from the emptiness. Away from the Silence. Away from the stillness that is the essence of Being.
So for this moment … instead of the call backs, come backs and back logs of Zen, I offer myself a timeless slice of nothing … no thing. No memont. (Okay, maybe one small call back 😉 ) As I exhale and take a backward step into the Silent Story.
Gassho.
