|
Our practice tells us to hold each moment lightly—allow ourselves to appreciate and approach each moment with curiosity. We see a thistle and investigate. We notice the colors of the bloom and smell the scent of the blossom. We get closer and feel the sting of a thorn…
Wait a minute—hold the sting of a thorn lightly? Yes. If we can hold the sting lightly—if we can be curious—we find that the hurtful, though beautiful, thorn protects the plant from being eaten and trod on.
Maintaining curiosity, we see thorns elsewhere. We look at our own defensive mechanisms, how we protect ourselves–aren’t they like thorns? We notice how they function (or, maybe, don’t function) in our lives.
That which hurts has value, though we may wish it had never happened, and never wish it to happen again. Even so, the thorny thistle has a bloom with a sweet scent, and its pollen can be made into honey.
Yours in the dharma,
Meg Critchlow
| 
