Haibun: Buddha and the Rain

Each day this week the rain casts dark clouds as shadows. Some days it rains, some days there’s suspense. But when it rains, the rhythms of the drops play another song.

I remember when I first really heard the Buddha’s observation, “This arises, that becomes.” Growing up in a fundamentalist household, there was this expectation that there was one true right way. After a while, it permeated everything and gave the expectation that if what is best doesn’t happen then it is wrong or a failure. Hearing the Buddha’s statement, I learned that something else became, there’s nothing right or wrong about it.

So as the rain comes and goes, it is. Normally there’s endless harsh sun, but this week, cold rain. Nothing right or wrong, it just is and will be. So I sip my coffee and listen. 

even when it rains
burrowed cactus reigns, so tall;
wet winter’s gain