The Road to Komyo Reiki Retreat: Pay Attention

PAY ATTENTION (Excerpt from Three Bowls: Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery)

Once we reach Beechar Lake, which sits on top of the last stretch of road to the monastery, after a narrow two-mile climb, forty-five minutes away from the main highway, I find myself letting out such a long, deep breath that you might think I’d been holding it the whole way up. This sigh springs from the pleasure of coming home.

The lake materializes in front of us when we come over the last tiny crest. If we aren’t careful and mindful that the road curves sharply to the left at the edge of the lake, it would be easy to drive straight into it. it’s as if the lake were a Zen welcoming mat, greeting us, and exhorting us to PAY ATTENTION! Our first Rinzai Zen lesson. -Myochi