葉

[Antonio]

This is beautiful sensei. Thank you for the teaching.

Gassho!
SatLah

[Tokan]

Hi all

As this has popped up in the 'new posts' on the forum I thought I would read again, and what a lovely thing to read it is. I particularly like this quote...

The kanji 葉 (ha, which also can be pronounced yō), has the core meaning “leaf.” Mastering the shape of 葉 is a snap if you divide it into its three top-to-bottom components — 艹 (plant-life), 世 (generations) and 木 (tree) — and memorize the phrase, “Leaves are successive generations of plant life on a tree.” In other words, the Leaf is the Tree within (and is not just part of the tree) and is the tree's successive generations of sprouting life

A tree is a special ecosystem, that serves as a great example of interdependence and interconnectedness. The tree cannot exist without the sun, the air, the soil, and the water. Also, the tree sprouts the leaves, which later fall, only to become fertilizer for the tree to sprout new leaves. It clicked with me this morning because I have been re-reading the Tenzo Kyokun, and the chapter where it is emphasized that the Tenzo does food preparation the night before, for the following day, but with no attachment to the idea of tomorrow or of having 'things done.' It seemed to me that the tree grows leaves today with no thought (obviously) for the fact that those leaves will become new leaves through the cyclical processes of life as we know them on earth.

It gave rise to a reflection that, perhaps, we are no different to trees in that way. If we are healthy and have healthy 'leaves' that fall, they can become fertilizer in other ways. To be more specific, when we die, the leaves we have shed (behaviours, influences, relationships) can be seen as our leaves interconnecting with all other things. Some leaves bed down into the mulch under the tree, some leaves blow away to do their thing elsewhere, but no leaf is wasted.

As usual, just a random reflection from me, it is not intended as a teaching since I am not a teacher, just a leaf scatterer!

Gassho, Tokan

Satlah