“Yes, We Can Have Hope…Wise Hope”*
The season shifts.
The humidity—
Thank you, life—
Has lifted.
The hideous heat,
Unrelenting,
Has relented.
Days are cooler.
Birds are quieter.
Light is lessening.
Transition
Unfolds.
I, too,
Transition.
From a funkier time,
A time of
More mumbling,
More
Muffled hope.
Funky
Hope.
Check-out-of-the-moment-
Hope:
“When I’ll feel better, then…”.
“I hope my energy shifts so I can…”.
“I hope my back is better before…”.
Hope as a
Check out.
But now…
There is
A shift.
But now—
I have shifted.
A shift
Of energy,
Of attitude
Of perspective.
Wise hope
Brings
Us present,
Brings us
Into the moment,
Rather than
Longing
For
Another
Moment.
It shifted!
Time takes time.
The prayers,
The exercises,
All
Take
What they take.
~~~
Change is inevitable.
We know that.
Yet, when it happens…
It does
Ring
Miraculous.
This moment
Does
Ring
Miraculous.
Subtly and quietly
Miraculous.
~~~
I remember Roshi Joan Halifax’s teaching on wise hope. In a time of such upheaval, such unraveling, I have found great solace in her teaching. Please, let Roshi Joan offer this teaching to you in this short article from the Buddhist magazine, Lion’s Roar, November 2022.
Roshi Joan is Founder and Head Teacher of Upaya Zen Center:
~~~
Are you a hopeful person?
What does your hope look like?
What does it feel like?
Do you experience wise hope?
How might you bring it into your life?
~~~
And this song. I don’t know why it feels a part of this conversation. The movement in the song feels good to me today, moving and right:
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you.
Only you can let it in.
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips.
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Life your life with arms wide open.
Today is where your book begins.
The rest is still unspoken.
~~~
Live your life
With arms
Wide open…
When we are able.
And when we are not able.
When we collapse
Inward.
May we bless
Ourselves.
May we practice
Meeting
Ourselves
Exactly
Where
We
Are.
One breath.
One step.
One
Moment
At a time.
May all people benefit
From our words
Shared together.
Aruni
* Conceived, written, and taught by Roshi Joan Halifax.