Constancy

Clear sunlight on falling snow: fire and ice.

Bareboned trees stark to the horizon,

Cold marshes, havens to ducks and geese.

A groundhog sits motionless on a post.

Wherever we are, the constant flow of Tao is ever present. We see the cycle of opposites, such as the juxtaposition of sunlight and snow. We notice the ongoing  rhythms of life: waterfowl carrying on their lives even as spring is slow to warm and  leafless trees stand in anticipation of warmer weather.

All things change, all things  move constantly. The world is like the ongoing turning of a magnificent wheel. All  things come in their own time.

Just as a groundhog sits motionless in the moving of the seasons, so too  should we look within and slowly absorb the time. Within all the movement, the  groundhog takes time to be still.

Within all the changing of spring, we must take  time to notice the constancy of inner devotion.

No matter how much is going on outside of oneself, one still reaffirms what is  in one’s heart, taking comfort in the regular pulse. What works in the shelter of home or temple works everywhere.

Only when we know such constancy will we know that our quest is succeeding.