Part 1 it turned out…

Small slice of baseball heaven, 6th game of the World Series 7-2;  good chance for a 7th game and I’ll be on the road in a hotel tomorrow night and that means TV. And, that means I get to watch it. Cubs vs. Indians. It feels like a good balance in the Universe of Baseball.

A good balance in our small part of it is provided by one of the most simple processes in nature, photosynthesis which is also a live example of interdependence and a metaphor for spiritual growth.

A seed that lands on the ground needs Sun, water, food (Suitable conditions), to open and simultaneously take root and grow upward. It begins to root, takes up water and nutrients like nitrogen, and grows toward the Sun for heat and light to convert CO2 into oxygen. The CO2 is gathered in at night and like all things medicinal can be poisonous if taken in too great a dose. It uses that potential poison gas, and water, to produce sugar and oxygen. Sugar is food and oxygen is life for all us animals and many chemical processes.

So, the most crucial interdependence takes place at the simples level. Without a plant sprouting and developing a leaf structure, we would not have developed or been able to keep living and producing more of us; which is true of most life on earth. Oxygen=Vitality.

We breathe in Oxygen and breathe out CO2, the same as most life. We help each other to live, thrive and survive. Viva life! I say.

PART 2 it turns out…

The world has changed completely. It several days since I started this post and the Chicago Cubs are World Champions. I suspect its been in the news just about everywhere. In a few zillion light years it will have reached across the Universe and it will be time for a repeat, or, they’ll do it again sooner.

Anyway, as I remember what I was getting at in above ramble was that interdependence takes place at the deepest levels. The Elemental level. That also includes DNA and karma, one begets/changes the other. I love the double helix.

So, in the human realm we suffer from the three poisons of greed, hate and delusion. These are the living spiritual equivalent  of CO2. When I practice meditation and the precepts, I am acting like the simple life forms (plants) and converting that CO2 into usable, effective and vital Oxygen. Through the simple process of sitting still and changing views of old patterns and habits I help convert the greed, hate and delusion into generosity and loving-kindness and wisdom. Just like a plant converts Co2 into oxygen.

Here’s the actual point for me to keep in mind. I am not the process. I help a natural process by trying to sit still within the conditions of life. I can only be willing, intend,    and then attempt and then, try again, and again, etc.

The plant is not the process, it is the condition within which the process shows itself.

Plants sprout and grow

 It is what comes natural

They cannot think on it.

Because I can think

I can see and feel that.

Something needs help

My help

Which I can give. Still

Over and over until

That which needed it

Can give and will and…