We have a relatively new flower garden in ground that was only broken last year. It’s full of weed seeds, which ran away on us late last summer. This spring it’s a hand and back breaking job to pull the grasses, dandelions, sedges, curly dock, queen ann’s lace, and others from among the flowers.
I was working there the other morning, with camera at hand, and it turns out that my best photos actually featured the weeds, with the flowers as backdrops.
It is a good perspective to have on Mind as well.
The following is a quote from Suzuki Roshi, from a dharma talk given in November of 1965:
“We say ‘pulling out the weed’. We make it nourishment of the plant. We pull the weed and bury the weed near the plant to make it nourishment of the plant. So even though you have some difficulty in your practice….even though you have some waves while you are sitting, those weeds itself will help you. So we should not be bothered by the weeds you have in your mind. We should be rather grateful to the weeds you have in your mind because eventually will enrich your practice.”
update 8.3.2010: this print is now available for sale here
