Blue-Eyed Grass

On my walk this morning, i saw blue-eyed grass growing on the roadside. I love blue-eyed grass. Such a simple wildflower. A single blue flower on a single stem of grass. I've tried growing it and always lost it. Today i saw it in profusion--growing in sand (read: limestone) in Florida (read: hot). I don't have those conditions in my garden.

In meditation, i don't have the proper conditions for the meditative absorptions, which require deep concentration. To some people, deep concentration comes easily, naturally, even spontaneously.

I am content with what i have--good enough concentration and deep enough insights to understand. And if, once in a great while, a beautiful concentration arises, i am at peace with what is. No blue-eyed grass in my garden. Not much concentration in my meditation.

Pink Queen Anne's Lace

This year, several of the Queen Anne's Lace in my garden were pinkish-burgundy. Though i've never noticed this color before, they are really attractive and coordinate well with the magenta trim on my house. I hope they reseed themselves.

This COVID summer, i've seen many things in the natural world that i haven't noticed before. This slowed-down summer has created space for my inner naturalist to bloom.

This coming slowed-down fall and winter offer opportunities for at-home retreats. I'm signed up for a silent concentration retreat in mid-October.

On retreat, i will probably see things i hadn't noticed before. Those seeings are called insight. I practice insight meditation.

The pink Queen Anne's Lace is stunning.

Bee Sleeping on Sunflower

When i cut sunflowers this morning, i saw that bees had slept on the sunflowers overnight. I suppose that near dark, the bees are just having a nightcap, and then find themselves comatose on the floor of the sunflower head. I find them lethargic the next morning and shake them awake.

This is what happens when we indulge our cravings, our addictions. We lose clarity.

Clarity is one of the qualities of mindfulness. Shinzen Young defines mindfulness as concentration, clarity, and equanimity.

When we lose clarity, we lose another moment of our one wild and precious life.

Root-Bound Amaryllis

I've had a steady stream of amaryllis blooming for the past month, often 2 or 3 at a time. I thought i had 3 amaryllis plants, but i seem to have about 8. I'm not sure where they all came from. Well, 2 of them came from a plant sale at a library, but beyond that, i don't know. I feel so delighted to have actual blooming amaryllis.

For years, i tried all sorts of tricks to get my amaryllis to bloom. I did what the garden books said: cut off the foliage in October and don't water them until December. I tried planting them outdoors for the summer.

Meanwhile, my neighbor who did absolutely nothing, other than water his amaryllis every week, had reliable blooms, year after year.

I finally decided to plant the bulbs in small pots, let them get root-bound, and Voila! Flowers! Usually 2 stalks on each plant.

When we practice concentration meditation, we narrow our focus on one spot. By binding our attention to a single point, such as the breath, the mind blooms into joy and even bliss.

My amaryllis bulbs are multiplying, so i'm dividing them, and putting each one in a small pot.

The White Garden at Night

A white garden is also called a moon garden. Last night, in the hazy moonlight of a partly cloudy sky, my white garden looked and smelled heavenly.

In our night vision, all colors fade to blue-gray-charcoal except for white, which lights up the darkness.

When we can concentrate in meditation, all sensory input fades to the background, while our object of meditation (breath, hearing, or feeling) draws our attention completely. If the mind doesn't exactly fade to stillness, it quiets to wispy whisperings, giving rise to a deep sense of calm.

In the moonlit garden, my senses are limited to the sight of white and the fragrance of phlox and Nicotiana.

Oh, smell the calm.

Photo from gomestic.com

Training Pole Beans Up

My pole beans, like mischievous children, are running away, over the ground, instead of climbing their poles. I have to train them, one by one, to send their vines up, not out.

Our minds can be quite mischievous at times, running here and there, getting into trouble, causing stress and distress. We sit down in meditation to train our mind to pay attention to the present moment. The mind runs hither and thither. We direct our attention back to our breath or to sensations of the body.

When we have a moment of stability of mind, just a single moment of concentration, we can look out over the forest of thoughts, and, perhaps, harvest a single insight.

Oh, that green bean is so fresh and delicious!

The Sweetness of Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I have an extravaganza of cherry tomatoes, so i cut them in half to "sun-dry" them in my food dryer. In fact, i grow the meaty grape cherry tomatoes expressly for drying rather than eating.

These sun-dried tomato chips are packed with enough flavor to make your tastebuds stand up and say, "Hooray!"

As we condense our meditation into concentration, the essential "flavor" of attention is experienced as sweetness.

I store the sun-dried tomatoes in plastic bags in the refrigerator, so that some cold winter's evening i can taste the sweet flavor burst of fresh tomatoes.

Eye-catching Gold

The shrub Physocarpus (a.k.a. Ninebark) is leafing out. I have 2 varieties.  Dart's Gold looks like forsythia from a distance with its bright yellow-green leaves, but the color last weeks longer than forsythia flowers which are already dropping to the ground.

My other variety is called "Summer Wine" and its red-purple leaves create a nice accent in an otherwise green background.

I particularly like the eye-catching yellow-green leaves of Dart's Gold, which draw my attention, no matter where i am in the garden. The rest of the garden is spring-beautiful and delightful to walk around in, yet Physocarpus overwhelms my visual field and completely stops my wandering eyes.

As we approach concentration in our meditation, our attention is captured by something pleasant and delightful in the body-mind. When joy arises, delight in it, fill yourself with it. Joy comes before concentration.

Wake up joy and wake yourself up :)

Smiling Pansies

I transplanted three 6-packs of pansies into 2 flowerpots on my front step. This way i can see a pansy blast every time i walk toward the front door. I can't help but smile when i look at their smiling little pansy faces.

I used to buy a flat of pansies and scatter them throughout 3 or 4 flowerbeds, but i soon lost track of them in the midst of the burgeoning growth of spring. The advantage to a flowerpot of pansies is the concentration of blooming happy faces for 3 months, until July's heat wilts them.

Sometimes we scatter our spiritual practice around, trying first one teacher then another, trying one spiritual path and then another.

Our meditation practice can lead us to smiles if we concentrate our efforts. Focus on the path with heart.

What is your path? Where does your heart resonate?