|
Come As You Are
by
Min Keung
Come As You Are is so affirming.
It is the Spring Equinox when the day is equal parts light and equal parts dark. Harmonious.
I saw on the news today that Spring is supposed to start on Tuesday. As I was walking to the Cleveland Buddhist Temple today, I saw some flowers (phlox) in full bloom. They didn’t get the notice of Spring starting on Tuesday, they came as they are, unapologetically.
Signs of spring are here. The frogs and salamanders are coming out of their burrows to go to the pools. The frogs and salamanders are coming as they are.
In Hinckley, on March 15th, they celebrate the turkey vulture, a harbinger of spring. The vultures came at 10:34 a.m. this year. Turkey vultures come as they are. Unapologetic.
My journey on the white path…
When I was 15 my mother died. I went to visit my family in Hong Kong shortly thereafter. After getting off the plane, they told me I got fat. For the next two weeks, I didn’t eat. I drank water. The message was DON’T Come as you are. Come Skinnier, Come Prettier, and maybe, come with a Chinese boyfriend.
When I was 18, I went to college. I struggled there, getting C’s in class. The message was Come
Smarter. On a whim, I decided to take an Introduction to Buddhism class with Professor Taitsu
Unno. I was affirmed with Come As You Are. Wherever I was on the mat, or on a cushion, or on
a chair, the message was Come As You Are.
In class, I learned about the Japanese phrase wabi sabi, being perfectly imperfect. I learned
about the Tibetan monks spending so much time on the mandalas only to deconstruct them after a few days to show impermanence. Perfectly imperfect.
The path is an everyday choice for me. When someone cuts me off in traffic, or raises their
voice at me, I have a choice. Do I get angry, and raise my voice too? Or do I suffer in samsara?
Or do I take a deep breath and let it go?
Recently someone told me that I had gray hair. The message was Come Younger. My response
was I am almost fifty, I am supposed to have gray hair.
Come As You Are. Nature follows this. Make space to make that choice.
In gassho,
Min Keung, Minister Assistant
Cleveland Buddhist Temple
Sunday, March 17, 2024
|
