WITHIN YOUNG LEAVES

“Wrapped within young leaves: the sound of water.”

~ Soseki

This delicate observation by this Japanese poet is filled with the quiet hope that embedded in our nature, even as we begin, is our gift already unfolded. Embedded in the seed is the blossom. Embedded in the womb is the child fully grown. Embedded in the impulse to care is the peace of love realized. Embedded in the edge of risk and fear is the authenticity that makes life worth living.

Wrapped within young leaves is the sound of water that will nourish them once they have opened. It’s already there prompting them to unfold and grow. To believe that this is possible requires a faith in currents larger than any one mind can envision. But that is not such a difficult thing to accept, for as dust owes its path to wind, we, as human beings, are asked to acknowledge that something larger encircles us and prompts us to unfold.

There is a gravity of spirit that pulls the essence of who we are into being. Our job, like all our sister creatures, is to find the abundance of air and water and light, and to unfold what is already within us.

~ Sit quietly and imagine your heart is a young leaf, green and tender, wrapped unto itself.

~ As you breathe, feel the water of life already in your veins.

~ Now, as you breathe, stand and outstretch your arms, and feel who you are unfold.

The Book of Awakening

~ Mark Nepo