"You only need to breathe lightly
for the miracles to be displayed.
Suddenly you hear the birds singing,
the pines chanting;
you see the flowers blooming,
the blue sky,
the white clouds,
the smile and the marvelous look
of your beloved."  – Hanh, Touching the Earth





The simple watering of plants
is the care of something other than the attending of your thoughts.
How many tasks and configurations each day
create blindness to what is passing before our very eyes.
Breathing while watering you become both.
All the while the hundred things mount and create unhappiness:
where am I to be next? How can I complete those thoughts
that continue to rise to the surface
like small fish who blindly peck at floating insects.
We notice there is no nourishment in distraction.
The water from the hose is steady.
The soil thickens and darkens as distractions rolls off.
What did it take Buddha, but a few focused breaths?