THE MOON AND THE DEWDROP

“Enlightenment is like the moon reflected in a dewdrop on a blade of grass. The moon does not get wet, nor is the drop of water broken… And the whole moon and entire sky are reflected in even one drop of water.”

~ Dogen

The mystery - in love, in work, in any moment of oneness - is that, like the dewdrop and the moon, we are briefly ourselves and everything at once. Our essential nature is not changed, only enhanced.

The lovers and friends that have helped me stay alive and be more fully alive have come into my life like Dogen’s moon - all their love, as big as the sky, fills my heart and yet I do not become them, but only more myself.

Anything or anyone that asks you to be other than yourself is not holy, but is trying only to fill its own need.

In truth, the smallest stem of a damaged heart, like a single blade of grass, holds the essence of everything alive. Enlightenment is the kiss of anything - moon, storm, or kindness - that opens us to that essence.

~ Center yourself and bring to mind one moment in which you felt touched by life other than your own. It might have been in nature or in the arms of a loved one.

~ Breathe deeply and consider how that touch had affected you.

~ After a time, ask yourself, Where do you keep that touch of life? When do you need it most?

The Book of Awakening

~ Mark Nepo