ripples from a drop in the bucket

June 13th, 2010

I’ve just returned from a marvelous time at the Mother’s Plunge -Seattle where the sun emerged from weeks of rain and radiated into our bones. There were 34 of us cloistered amid a wide circle of pines and clear air. I won’t even describe it: nothing I say comes close.

Although it’s nifty the way our fancy social media works, we haven’t met until we meet face-to-face. There is one more Mother’s Plunge on my calendar for this year: Saturday, June 26 here in my hometown. I hope that in the light of the approaching days you will find a way to come.

In my Zen lineage, a wisdom tradition transmitted from one teacher to one student one at a time through 81 generations since Buddha, a single meeting matters more than the volumes you read on a page. A true meeting only occurs face-to-face. In the shared field where we meet, eyes lock, minds unite, light streams and hands close the distance with which we divide ourselves.

One meeting, one day, seems like a drop in the bucket, but the ripples go on forever. It’s in the ripples that the shoreline shifts. The landscape of our lives changes forever.

Just take a look at this iridescent scarf handed to me when I met Anna Katherine Curfman at the Plunge in Seattle. She felts these flutters from the lightest fibers of merino wool and silk. I can’t imagine the time and attention she places into each one. Now I don’t have to imagine it. I see it, I believe it, I love it, and I especially love that it requires the intimate care of an oh so gentle Hand Wash Cold.

***

More ripples:

A Weekend with Karen – if I were to crash your pad, commandeer your car and keep you up too late three nights in a row, there would be repercussions.

Attention! – “Baby steps will get you anywhere if you don’t stop stepping.” A valedictory address from a graduate of the Mother’s Plunge.

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7 Comments »

  1. When are you coming to Thailand?! 😀

    Sounds like a great experience…

    Comment by Lana — June 14, 2010 @ 3:09 am

  2. and Australia!!!

    Comment by diane — June 14, 2010 @ 7:00 am

  3. Still looking for a place for you to come to in the Northeast . . . .

    Comment by J, Connecticut — June 14, 2010 @ 1:40 pm

  4. I wish that I could have a true face to face meeting with you here in Ireland. In the meantime your words of gentle wisdom always, always call me back to a better place.

    Comment by Edith — June 14, 2010 @ 8:09 pm

  5. Your visit to Wisconsin is one of the highlights of my summer. Can’t wait to meet you face-to-face.

    Comment by Pam — June 15, 2010 @ 12:56 am

  6. Oh no! What happened to the Mother’s Plunge in Colorado Springs? I had it all planned out. Poo.

    Comment by Stephanie Rayburn — June 15, 2010 @ 1:15 am

  7. Ah yes, of course you’ve articulated this perfectly. But I suspect that I agree so much because I have had the opportunity to take some of my online connections into real life connections and I am blessed because of it. It truly does take it to the next level.

    Comment by Christine LaRocque — June 15, 2010 @ 3:09 pm

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