The Mighty Oak

“From the withered tree, a flower blooms”

“The infinite is in the finite of every instant”

~ Zen Proverbs ~

This morning I went to the Maria Kannon Zen Center to "sit" or practice Zen before my drive to Nebraska.  Although Zen is not something you just "get" overnight (it takes 10, 20 or 30 years to master), I do believe Spirit spoke to me this morning louder than he has spoken since I was in college, alone in the woods on a retreat. 

A "sit" at this center is generally 90 minutes long; 25 minute periods of Zazen (seated meditation) interspersed with 5 minutes of Kinhin or "walking Zen."  It was during this period of slow, methodical walking that Spirit spoke.....through an oak floor!!  You see, the floor of the center is made of the most incredible solid oak flooring.  But it creaks.  The first time I visited the center I was annoyed by the loud creaking of the seasoned floor.  It was a distraction and I found it hard to "become one with my breathing."  But today, as each person in the room stepped across the floor, those boards spoke to me and to each other.  No.  They sang!

It was then I opened my eyes fully and noticed the intricate shapes and colors unique to each piece of flooring.  Laced together by years of wax and polish, they created an artistic masterpiece that made me smile.  That's when it occured to me.  Each of these pieces of oak flooring had once been a tree.  They were once a majestic tower of beauty filled with wondrous branches and leaves.  Yet, the beauty of these fine pieces, there for me to enjoy, could only be discovered by cutting down the tree.  This magnificent oak was either cut down or it fell down.  From there, it was ripped and cut and sliced and planed and sanded until these fine ornaments were exposed. 

Sure, some of the tree was just leaves.  They fell to the ground each year to help fertilize the soil.  Other parts were acorns which fell and grew to be new trees; a process of renewal.  Still other parts probably became another floor somewhere, or a chair or a table or whatever!

The point is, the tree didn't complain.  It didn't whine and moan about it's bad luck in being cut down.  Each and every part had it's mission in the life of that tree and each did it without complaint.  The leaves fell.  The acorns grew (or were eaten by squirrels).  The trunk was cut and scattered everywhere in the shape of furniture or floors.  And it occured to me today that the boards of that floor we sat and trod upon, once a mighty oak, fulfilled their lot without complaint.  They are simply happy being a floor.  In fact, being a floor makes them sing.

This could easily be an amazing metaphor for how we should model our lives.  But in fact, it IS life.  Like that mighty oak, each of us will be cut down, ripped, planed and sanded in to something more beautiful at one time or another.  For some of us, it will be MANY times.  The question is, will we accept the new beauty in store for us or will we fight it and complain every step of the way?  I'll be honest.  I've been known to put up a fight regarding change now and then.  But after this morning, I think I finally get the message.

I'm being ripped and planed and sanded right now.  I was a mighty oak, but now I'm going to be something even better!!  And the best part of all is, just like the floor at the Zen Center which will someday rot or burn or otherwise be "destroyed", I too won't ever be finished.  When the floor rots away or burns someday, it will create the space and opportunity for NEW life.  It will become carbon which fertilizes a mighty oak.  And the circle continues.

We're never finished.  So today, I'm going to do my very best to follow the example of the mighty oak and that magnificent floor.  I'm going to become the most amazing thing I can be at the hands of Spirit.  And I'm going to do my best to do it without complaining. 

Namaste