' Autumn '...

The fresh morning air being breathed into the lungs effortlessly, leaves falling from trees onto the driveway and the grass, a chilly wind blowing through the hair. Isn’t autumn beautiful? But isn’t the word “autumn” just another leaf falling from a tree, another temporary form arising and falling in ‘This’—the utter mystery we call life .

Enjoy the trees, the leaves, the driveway, the grass, the wind, the hair, and the thought “autumn.” These ‘things’ are coming and going. Nothing to hold onto, not even the word “mystery.” It arises and falls. Nothing is yours. “You” are just one of the forms arising and falling.

To a mind looking to hold onto these forms, what is being said here can be frightening. Actually, it is totally liberating. Each moment is totally fresh and new. The past is gone. Notice the mind’s tendency to hang onto some past moment. Notice its tendency to search for something in the future. The past and future are just thoughts, just leaves. There is nothing to grab onto. Nowhere to land.

Instead of grasping onto the temporary forms, ask yourself: What is here? What is it that is always looking at the coming and going? When a concept arises as if to answer that question, know that even that concept is coming and going. That is the mystery.



-Kiloby, Scott. Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment