by Denise Ségor
These words arose in me while walking along the Springwater Trail in Portland, Oregon, early one spring morning. They came from a chorus of bird song; from the scent of fresh rain on flowers, leaves, bark and earth; from the coolness of air on skin; from the firmness of ground beneath footsteps; from gray and white clouds low in the sky; from trees, bushes, and grasses holding steady and still;
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by Denise Ségor
These words arose in me while walking along the Springwater Trail in Portland, Oregon, early one spring morning. They came from a chorus of bird song; from the scent of fresh rain on flowers, leaves, bark and earth; from the coolness of air on skin; from the firmness of ground beneath footsteps; from gray and white clouds low in the sky; from trees, bushes, and grasses holding steady and still; from muscles contracting and releasing with the flow of movement; from the swish, swish of swinging arms; from breath entering coolly and exiting warmly; from eyes moving consciously from forward and outward seeing to lowered and inward seeing and back again; and from the quiet volcano hidden in this moment by clouds but visible and erupting always within my heart. They also come from a continuing practice of looking deeply at the nature of my own suffering.
Denise Ségor, Mindful Smile of the Heart, is an aspirant to the Order of Interbeing, practicing with the Joyful Refuge Sangha and the Community of Mindful Living in Portland, Oregon.
This food and I
We are sisters in the cosmos,
We are the universe.
And the earth, sky, air, water, fire,
space, energy and consciousness
of the universe
All are in us.
May we gently, with mindfulness and concentration,
Invite our sister food into our body
So that our transformations may nourish our collective joy
and stability.
May we transform our unskillful states of mind
the knots of panic and fear
the bottomless pit of craving
And learn the Middle Way,
With heart and courage easing the constrictions and
control
Thus releasing freedom and peace into our body and the
world.
May we take in the nourishing
and life-affirming elements
Of our sister earth,
Encouraging positive seeds
To take root and grow strong within us
So we may give back to the earth
compassion and healing.
May we bring awareness
To the continuing transformation
Occurring in every moment
As our sister food moves through,
fills and becomes one
with every space and cell of our body
And then permeates us out
Through our skin, our tears, our sweat,
our voices, our movement, our breath and our excrement
. . .
In every moment reminding us of the fullness of emptiness
And the nature of no self.
May we commune with her
In a pure and grace-filled way
So that easily and with peace
We may realize
The Path of Understanding
And the Mind of Love.
—Denise Ségor
