The leaves are falling, falling —
The wind blew sharp today.
Autumn fading, winter’s icy breath
chills early morning, evening, late.
* * *
The Buddha said:
Just as a snake sheds its skin, so we should shed our past, over and over again.
Can this be a parable?
What does he contemplate? What do we contemplate?
Just as a snake sheds its skin, so we should shed our past, over and over again.
Over and over again, shedding, like the trees, leaves falling. Shedding.
Touch2Touch 
I like that trees set their buds for next year’s leaves and flowers before they drop this year’s. That’s faith; we can safely shed our old skins if we are certain a new one will grow. However, it doesn’t appear we humans recognize that certainty. Perhaps that’s why we hang onto our pasts. They’re familiar and we often feel we face an uncertain future. Ah, for the faith of a tree!
Beautiful photos!
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Pauline, that is one of the most hopeful facts I have ever heard and actually makes me regret that I know virtually nothing about biology, or botany, or wherever I might have learned it.
Yes, indeed — if we could FEEL the presence of ongoing life even as we go into dormancy —
My friend James used to point out to me, during deepest winter when I might frequently be in the depths — that it was only SEEMING that life was dead, that underneath the blanket of snow all life was gathering strength for the spring —
Thank you!!!!!
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What a refreshing reminder to let go of today and be prepared for the beauty waiting for us to discover tomorrow. I always enjoy your posts Judith. Thank you for letting us share in the beauty of your words.
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And thank you, Tara, for your never-failing cheerfulness and encouragement. A beautiful spirit!
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What a lovely post. Pick up any women’s magazine and you will find articles and advertisements touting the benefits of exfoliating the skin to get rid of the dead layers that dull the complexion. I wish they would take a lesson from this post. Your type of exfoliation will rid us of the dulling layers of regret, self-recrimination and fear that dull our gifts and spirit. If we could just shed these dead thoughts; these “impurities”; we would be radiant from the inside. Sharing our light and living in the light.
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Oh Adrienne! That is such a glowing promise you paint here!
Radiant from the inside —
I know those dulling layers of regret, self-recrimination and fear far too well —
Your clarity is itself a source of light for us all to share.
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I enjoyed this post so much and then, reading through the beautiful comments, I realized I have nothing to add to all this wisdom.
walk in beauty this day.
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Joss, thank you so much for being a faithful visitor, and especially for being present to all the wonderful people who come and comment here — which includes you!
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I really like this posting. Nice poem and nice picture. The autumn leaves are lovely, but still the picture with Buddha is more genuine at least to me. The colours are a little off and just great. And then the strange light from the upper right, it almost has some unearthly about it. It’s certainly a picture that makes your imagination going. Nice work.
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I don’t know where that light came from either, Munchow, and it certainly had a haunting effect on me! The actual locale, while pleasant, is not the in the least unearthly.
It’s exciting when something a little uncanny appears that way in the camera although it doesn’t happen too often. Maybe it’s because Halloween is coming ? 🙂
Thanks for visiting!
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I adore your Buddha picture. I’m in the middle of writing a post for my meditation blog, actually; I hope to have it up by Sunday.
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Why don’t you put that link here, people might like to know about it, Stef —-
I would!
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Sure; here you go: http://meditationmania.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/october-2011-posts/
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I don’t know if I agree with shedding our past. I guess we shouldn’t hang on to troublesome things, but our past holds a richness that I certainly wouldn’t want to give up.
I love my memories.
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There certainly is that aspect to it.
I believe that everything important/symbolic/significant has two aspects, one beneficent, one less so.
So my interpretation is that the Buddha was talking about the less beneficent side of holding on to things, namely, the danger of being so filled up with the past there is no room left for the present.
A delicate balance.
Thank you for taking the time to reflect and contribute to the discussion here, Christine.
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You have a beautifully aesthetic blog and thanks so much for visiting me and commenting. I hope you get to come back to England and visit Dartington then.
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Thanks, Gilly. It’s a hope I have also!
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