“Within the fire and out upon the sea
Crazy man Michael was walking
He met with a raven with eyes black as coals
And pretty soon they were a-talking.”
— Fairport Convention, Crazy Man Michael (Liege and Lief, 1969)
“The voices of the river valley are the Buddha’s wide and long tongue,
The form of the mountains is nothing other than his pure body.
Through the night, eighty-four thousand verses.
On another day, how can I tell them to others?”
— Su Shi
This week I was able to perch on my doorstep and sit Zazen. Although ostensibly alone, close by are an old oak, some sweet chestnuts, a birch tree and, by the sounds they were making, a whole host of birds of many different species including tits, thrushes and wood pigeons.
During the current situation, many people have found solace in their permitted daily walk in nature. And even before coronavirus was a word on anyone’s lips, walking in the woods was a balm to many people in need of a place to let go of their worries for a while, and even find themselves again. In Japan, the practice of forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) is testimony to this idea. Trees ask nothing of us, and all the while radiate a sense of stillness and ease born of often hundreds of years being rooted to the same place. Continue reading
Living With Narwhals 