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THE MYSTERY OF OUR LOVE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The very first memory I have

 

is when I lived in a housing project in Virginia

 

It was called Hillwood Square and there were small houses,

 

joined and set one beside another

 

along sidewalks that extended for about a hundred yards

 

Along these sidewalks to the right and left

 

were small grass lawns and then the small rowhouses

 

A narrow walk went between the main sidewalk

 

and any particular house

 

Up and down the sidewalk on either side

 

were very large oak trees

 

Their trunks were 2 to 3 feet in diameter

 

They rose up straight for a long time

 

before there were any branches at all

 

Then they spread out

 

in a glorious,  thunderous foliage

 

They must of been 150ft tall

 

They were the largest living things I had ever seen

 

The forest had been carefully cut down around them

 

leaving them standing,

 

one beside another

 

up and down the long sidewalk

 

One day I was walking down the sidewalk

 

It must of been within the first 5 years of my life

 

and

 

This is the first memory I have in this life 

 

I felt the trees feeling me

 

The silence became very loud

 

and filled with the sense of 'other' living presence

 

We felt each other, the trees and I

 

I bathed in their ancient quiet regard, their community of living

 

I sensed my smallness and their hugeness

 

I felt them feeling my size as well

 

I felt my individuality well up like a secret,  just between us

 

No one else knew this thing

 

In just this way

 

I now,

 

also feel the immense presence of a Tree

 

An ancient oak of love

 

It towers over the paths we walk

 

and the things we say and feel

 

It is the oak of our life, of our love

 

It does not call out

 

but

 

it is present

 

When I become aware of it

 

I become aware of how small we are

 

I become aware of how vast is our life

 

I sense a great and vibrant community

 

and

 

This feeling is secret,  just between us

 

Like the rhizome of a mushroom that only shows

 

itself around it's fruiting edges

 

it is a surprise

 

No one else knows this thing

 

It is the mystery of our love

Tall Trees - Peter Malakoff
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This is what it was. The tall trees have been mostly removed now and younger ones have been planted

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TIBETAN WHEEL OF LIFE:  

 

 I visited Ladakh in 2016. It is the Indian part of the Tibetan Plateau, containing many of the oldest Buddhist monasteries on the Tibetan Plateau. At the entrance of every monastery, on the right-hand wall, is painted an image called the ‘Wheel of Life,’ a comprehensive summary of Buddha’s teaching in picture form made for a predominantly illiterate culture. 

 

The Wheel of Life illustrates the co-dependently (one thing always depending on another) arising, inevitable, always and only temporary, ever alternating, ‘good,’ ‘bad,’ pleasurable and painful karmas of birth and death, youth and old age, disease and health, heaven and hell. 

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The Wheel of Life illustrates the karmas (actions and destinies) of men, gods, demi-gods, demons, and animals, portraying the path of every sentient being that is bound upon this wheel. The Wheel is held in the hands of the ‘demon’ ‘Kala’ or time, a demon crowned with five skulls, representing the five elements (ether, air, fire, water, and earth) of which all and everything exists.

 

After Buddha was enlightened underneath the Bodhi tree, he thought he would not teach because what he had to say was not understood or interesting to others. In the Pali Canon, it is recorded that Buddha said:

 

“This Dharma I have realized is profound, hard to see and difficult to understand, full of peace and sublime, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle and capable of being experienced only by the wise . . . But this generation delights in worldliness (attachment), takes delight in worldliness, and rejoices in worldliness. It is hard for such people to see this truth, namely, inevitable conditionality (everything includes its opposite) and co-dependent origination (nothing has a self-nature; it is all caused by a combination of other things; there is no 'self), and it is hard to see the truth, namely; that the stilling of all desires, the relinquishing of all attachments, the destruction of craving, dispassion, and cessation is Nirvana. If I were to teach the Dharma, others would not understand me, and that would be wearying and troublesome.

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Seeing his hesitation, the gods implored him to teach, if only for the sake of the few who might be prepared and to help others know the truth of Reality. It was only at their urging that Buddha acquiesced and began his teaching mission to ‘Turn the Wheel of the Dharma.’ 

 

His very first Teaching was 'The Four Noble Truths’ and the very first ‘Truth’: ’Life is Dukkha (suffering).’ Suffering was inevitable and inherent in this world, and without awakening to this Truth, no one would ever be interested in the Teaching of freedom from suffering. (This is why Buddha was hesitant to teach.) 

 

If one were not clear that every life was limited and all beings and things were bound to the wheel of cause and effect, a wheel held by time, that they were going to die and lose everything and everyone, then they would be primarily motivated to seek pleasure and/or fulfill their various desires. Buddha did not teach ‘Buddhism,’ for the sake of any kind of fulfillment of the 'self'; rather, he taught the transcendence of 'self.' Buddha taught that a person must first discover that the ‘Truth’ of life is inevitable suffering because only then, impressed with the suffering nature of all of existence, would they ever be moved to practice the Way. (See: The Cure of the Mustard Seed)

An Example from the Wheel of Life: 

The image above displays only the center of the Wheel of Life, which shows people rising up to the pure realms by doing good deeds, helping each other, giving to others, and practicing as monks. However, because the fruits of every action are limited, the fruits of their actions are eventually exhausted. Then, they fall from their exalted state. This is why it is called the 'Wheel of Life,’ it is always turning like a wheel where what was up turns into what is down, and what is down becomes up; on and on it goes. This is why there are Buddhas shown to the upper right and upper left of the image, indicating that the Buddha’s teaching is not merely a benign mortal teaching of how to succeed in life (on the wheel); instead, it is a Transcendental Teaching, and its Truth exists outside and beyond the Wheel of Life.

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Everything I have written is done in recognition of this Wheel. . .

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