Appreciating the Flowers, Appreciating the Garbage

A flower contains garbage, and garbage contains a flower.

This is what Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh noted, time and time again.

He passed away almost exactly a year ago. The flower that was his life became garbage, and yet the garbage that is death will once again become a flower.

Every word and action that he manifested in his life are the seeds from which many beautiful flowers will grow.

Working towards a goal is a good thing. The entire journey toward that goal is every bit as important as the goal. All we have to do is look around at the thousands of people who have achieved the goals that they set out to do. Some of those goals are incredibly difficult. In the end, did achieving those goals make them happy? It did for a moment, and then they are left unsatisfied, wanting more. Craving once again rears its head, and off they go on a journey toward another goal.

What happens when our journeys are interrupted by sickness, divorce, and bankruptcy? We feel like a wall has been put up between our goals and ourselves. Then we feel stuck, and fearful of what will happen to us.

At some point this will happen. There is nothing unusual about contracting a deadly disease and becoming ill, or going through divorce, or experiencing poverty…