THE EMPTINESS OF THE RED GERANIUM
Here – sitting outside with the laptop – there is the view of a natural wilderness – the huge oak tree, fields of nasturtium leaves, geraniums with deep pink flowers, a white butterfly, the smell of jasmine on the creeper nearby, two white arum lilies, overhead the blue sky and drifting white clouds, the sounds of unseen birds, wasps building nests in the eaves, a dog soaking up the sun, the call of the Egyptian geese.
How is it possible to describe the inexplicable emptiness of this amazing array? Everything is simply this unfathomable emptiness – ONE – but expressed with this veneer of solidity that appears different – the red geranium, the brown dog. Ha! The gaze can look for hours on this scene marveling at this dance of nothing showing itself in a thousand different ways. What Am I? The question is answered in everything – the NOTHING or the emptiness that is recognized points directly to this unfathomable mystery. I am THAT; I AM.
Everything happens naturally here. The roots of the oak tree soak up water and nutrients, which flows through the xylem and phloem to nourish leaves, and twigs and branches. The butterfly – once a caterpillar – emerged from a cocoon. The dog breathes, absorbing the oxygen naturally and effortlessly. Everything happens by itself. There is no creator micromanaging this scene – with Gant Charts scheduling the minute movements of nature. Here on the couch is this human body. Blood is pumped by the heart and circulates through the veins and the arteries, oxygen is breathed, digestion occurs, the bladder and colon fill and are emptied – such complex life processes. Yet – here too, everything happens by itself. There is no conscious effort. Everything is just as it is. There is silence and stillness naturally present. Within this silence, birds occasionally chirp, a dog yelps, then again silence. Sound in silence. Leaves move imperceptibly in the breeze, an ant crawls up the wall – movement in stillness. … Emptiness in form … Being and non-being. What is this LOVE song that plays? Consciousness always in motion – always arising out of this Formless Unknowing. How to grasp what is Ungraspable in words? An orange butterfly lands on the dartboard. How extraordinary.
-- Louise Sterling
How is it possible to describe the inexplicable emptiness of this amazing array? Everything is simply this unfathomable emptiness – ONE – but expressed with this veneer of solidity that appears different – the red geranium, the brown dog. Ha! The gaze can look for hours on this scene marveling at this dance of nothing showing itself in a thousand different ways. What Am I? The question is answered in everything – the NOTHING or the emptiness that is recognized points directly to this unfathomable mystery. I am THAT; I AM.
Everything happens naturally here. The roots of the oak tree soak up water and nutrients, which flows through the xylem and phloem to nourish leaves, and twigs and branches. The butterfly – once a caterpillar – emerged from a cocoon. The dog breathes, absorbing the oxygen naturally and effortlessly. Everything happens by itself. There is no creator micromanaging this scene – with Gant Charts scheduling the minute movements of nature. Here on the couch is this human body. Blood is pumped by the heart and circulates through the veins and the arteries, oxygen is breathed, digestion occurs, the bladder and colon fill and are emptied – such complex life processes. Yet – here too, everything happens by itself. There is no conscious effort. Everything is just as it is. There is silence and stillness naturally present. Within this silence, birds occasionally chirp, a dog yelps, then again silence. Sound in silence. Leaves move imperceptibly in the breeze, an ant crawls up the wall – movement in stillness. … Emptiness in form … Being and non-being. What is this LOVE song that plays? Consciousness always in motion – always arising out of this Formless Unknowing. How to grasp what is Ungraspable in words? An orange butterfly lands on the dartboard. How extraordinary.
-- Louise Sterling