Purple Harvest

This morning i harvested only purple things from the garden--purple asparagus and purple pea pods. I cut a several sprigs of lavender. Even though black raspberries call themselves "black," when i crush them between my fingers or my teeth, the result is purple fingers or a purple tongue. I put all my gleanings into my purple (and blue) harvest basket. And, oh yes, i was wearing purple pants and a purple shirt.

The purple asparagus is called Purple Passion. If you're reading this blog, you are as passionate about gardening as i am.

The garden is a place where we can be our authentic selves. We don't have to act in one of our daily roles. We can just "be." And sometimes we  might slip into calm or tranquility. Ahh. Peace at last.

Today: a purple peace.

Country Gentleman

I grew up in the cornfields of the Midwest, and my dad was a farmer. Shucking corn for dinner was a game. Would your cob be a "city slicker" with even rows of kernels? Or a "country gentleman" with uneven teeth?

Since i've only seen "city slickers" for the past few decades, i was surprised to peel off the husk last night and find a country gentleman!

We live in a privileged society where life can go very evenly for quite a while. Then we hit some uneven bumps. Wait a minute. Isn't life supposed to be smooth? No, it isn't. This unevenness is the Buddha's first ennobling truth.

Accepting life as it is, and simply saying "yes" to the pain, grief, and despair leads moment by moment to equanimity. Tranquility that we got second or third best, instead of the very best.

The country gentleman isn't pretty, but the corn is just as delicious.

Firth of Forth

I suppose it had to happen while we are in Scotland. We spent the night at a lodge on a golf course--not my usual milieu, but Scotland is the home of golf, so when in Scotland....

The stunning view looks across the golf course and across to the Firth of Forth to the Fife peninsula beyond. Translated into American English, "Firth of Forth" means the inlet where the Forth River flows into the North Sea. I can see cargo ships in the distance cruising in and out of Edinburgh.

I've been asking the lodge staff about other Scottish-English words i'm not familiar with. We are staying at the Craigielaw Lodge. What does "law" mean in this context? One archaic meaning of "law" is "low," which makes sense as the low land of the Craigielaw Estate.

We hear many words in Scottish English that i've never heard in American English. What???

When we start meditating, we become more familiar with words we may have had only passing acquaintance with. "Equanimity" is one. Several people have asked me what that means, as if they've never heard the word before. Once we experience equanimity in meditation, we have a visceral sense of what the word means. Calm, yes. Tranquil, yes. Balanced, yes. But there's an emotion that cannot be put into words. We say "equanimity," and know, really know what we are talking about.

A Really Tall Hollyhock

A 12-foot tall hollyhock is growing just outside my back door. And the miracle, to me, is that it's standing straight; it's not falling over. It has reached past the rooftop, headed for the sky. When i see it, i want to stand up straighter myself.

An erect posture is important for our meditation, whether we are standing or sitting. Since we, in our society, are accustomed to slouching--on the sofa, in an easy chair, even in our cars--we often don't have the back muscles to support an erect posture, which actually enables the rest of the body to relax. Think of the spine and shoulder blades as the hanger on which the flesh of the body rests.

Do a quick body scan, even while you are reading this, and notice where tiny tensions reside in your face, neck, shoulders, hands, back, gut, thighs, feet.

Now relax. Settle in. As your crown heads toward the sky, and your sitz-bones settle down toward the earth, relax.
Relax; don't collapse.
We maintain an alertness of posture and, thereby, an alertness of mind.
Feel the tranquility, the calmness, which is different than sleepiness, different from laziness, different than torpor.

Be inspired by a tall, really tall, hollyhock.

Cereus Angels

My night-blooming cereus bloomed last night. It begins to unfold about 7 p.m. By morning, the blossom has wilted.

The interior of this 5-inch wide flower--the hundred white pistils standing on a platform of petals--looks like a choir of angels. If there's a "tunnel of light" at the end of life, i think it will look like the night-blooming cereus.

I keep this straggly succulent plant all year for the joy of this one blossom. (Only one this year. The friend who gave me this plant is having 7.)

Sometimes our meditation feels like this--all straggly with our mind going every which way. Humming with activity the way the night-blooming cereus vibrates on its stem as the sepals and then the petals spring open in slow motion. But then, once in a while, we happen onto or into a place that feels heavenly.

Angels and Imagination by William Blake

We can increase our chances of finding the "heavenly abodes" by practicing them during meditation. Loving-kindness. Compassion. Appreciative Joy. The tranquility of Equanimity. Marinate in one of these for at least two or three minutes during every meditation period.

Practice now, before life wilts.

Community Garden Comparison

Last week someone mowed around the edge of the community garden, and revealed that my plot was the only one with tall grass, dock, and mustard growing up through the fence. The comparing mind couldn't help but notice that my lone plot was not conforming to the nicely groomed look of the other 11 plots.

So yesterday i finally took my garden fork there. As i uprooted each clump, i'd sneak a look at the neighbors' plots where tiny lettuces grew in a row. Thanks to a heavy dose of manure last year, my own plot was teeming with clover, grass, and lambs' quarters.

The mind loves to compare. In fact, that's really all it does. Tranquility, calm, and peace do not grow well in the weedy mind that is busy comparing itself to its neighbors.