A jewel in this ocean of samsara

After having watered my plants I was busy getting on with my day, when while walking across the room, I saw the run-of water caught like a jewel in the leaf. This sudden gift of beauty reminded me of a conversation I had yesterday with a friend who is in the midst of intiating a public arts project ( my best wishes with her). We were discussing about the city, it's extremes, the contrasts, how we all battle with it on a daily basis. I spoke of Thich Nhat Hanh's gatha (verse), "In the garbage I see a rose, in the rose I see garbage...", meaning when you take out the trash you do it with the understanding that a rose can/will come out from it and when you see a rose you know that it too will wilt and turn to garbage.....I was hinting at seeing the contrasts around us, as being impermanent....changing, beauty turning to ugliness, that which is repulsive to beauty...but on reflection while I was alone I realized all this also questions the very meaning of what we consider as beautiful.

It will be interesting for me to see how I view this in future, my own relationship with the city is always changing, I try not to react, but it is there, all the chinks in the system....I try to be the change rather than expecting the city to change around me. I try.

All I know is a seeking mind can find beauty even in the mundane and be uplifted till the next mundane joy comes along.

Love & light!