We just got through a week of real winter weather here in New Jersey, temps in the teens and low 20s and a bit of snow. It may not last; temps may hit 50 next week. We’re probably not through yet with snow and sub-freezing winds, but I get the feeling that we won’t have another full week of Arctic conditions here (well, “Arctic-ish”; I realize that in many places, the low 20’s are like a heat wave in January; it’s all relative).
While eating my steel-cut oatmeal this morning, I looked out the window and saw a scene in the front yard that said “WINTER”, loud and clear. So, here is a stone rabbit with snow between its ears, sitting in silent meditation like a frozen Buddha. Above him looms a remnant from the spring and summer before, some stalks of brown meadowgrass, framing his contemplative resolve. The shadows are long in the low winter sun, while the Buddha Rabbit transcends the autumn before and the spring and summer yet to come with the power of his simple being.
Simply existing, here and now — a power that we all share, as we are all Buddha!