I awaken and rise to make tea.
I take my first sip and then.
Immediately afterwards that moment expands,
Stretched apart by unseen hands.
I step into the opening as I swallow the tea.
Darkness which is not darkness enfolds me.
The taste of puer pulls the earth inside.
We rest in knowledge of primordial ground.
No beginning; no end; no self; no other.
I take a second sip and smile.
Consider this wooden object.
This is a chair. You say.
But is it? I ask. What makes it so?
This! And you sit upon it.
Ah, I see. But please arise.
I place my tea cup and notebook upon it.
Now, still a chair? Or has it transformed into a table?
I remove them.
Would you please retrieve that book from a high shelf?
You then stand upon the sturdy item.
It has become a stepladder.
What magic is this?
Thus is all.
How would it be, to change our vision?
We often ask (ourselves or god or the the universe)
Why did this happen?
We see an event as a particular discrete thing
And usually when we query thus,
Feel that it be extraordinary in some way.
Often we seek some divine aid or give thanks for that perceived intervention.
Consider if you will this possibility:
There are no miracles nor curses. The playing field is level.
A joyous birth equals a tragic death. The discovery of a vaccine equals the manufacture of a deadly weapon.
And all equal the purchase of a cup of coffee.
THESE ARE ALL ORDINARY. Shocking to write.
Each came about in the same manner, with innumerable causes.
They have no special quality in and of themselves,
Though they do carry weight and impact, which we ourselves assign.
We are the ones who decide what counts as remarkable,
Either for reasons of evil or good, while we claim signs from some deity.
If we choose to see this and acknowledge
That everything is mundane and therefore also terrible and therefore also glorious,
Then we can (perhaps) take a better path.
Steam rises from the tea.
Consider these things.
The cup which contains the tea
Has already been shattered.
The tea itself has been consumed.
Gate gate paragate
Parasamgate bodhi svaha.
“Gone, gone, gone beyond,
Gone altogether beyond,
Oh, what an awakening! All hail!”