See The Universe In A Sunflower

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Hand-drawn art by Rupali Bhuva
Image of the Week
Für: Mai-03-2021

Das Universum in einer Sonnenblume sehen
-von Thich Nhat Hanh


Ich lebe in Plum Village, in der Region Dordogne im Südwesten Frankreichs, einer Gegend, die für ihre Sonnenblumen bekannt ist. Aber Menschen, die im April nach Plum Village kommen, sehen keine Sonnenblumen. Sie hören die Leute sagen, dass es viele Sonnenblumen gibt, aber sie können sie nirgends sehen. Wenn Sie jedoch die Bauern in der Region fragen, werden sie Ihnen sagen, dass sie die Sonnenblumen sehr gut sehen können, weil sie die Sonnenblumenkerne bereits ausgesät haben. Sie haben die Erde gepflügt, die Samen gesät und Dung ausgebracht. Sie wissen, dass es nur noch eine weitere Bedingung geben muss, damit sich die Sonnenblumen manifestieren. Diese letzte Bedingung ist Wärme. Wenn das Wetter beginnt, sich zu erwärmen, werden die Sonnenblumensamen sprießen, und wenn das Wetter im Juni oder Juli weiterhin warm ist, werden die Sonnenblumen blühen.

"So können die Bauern Dinge sehen, die der Besucher noch nicht sehen kann. Wir sagen, dass es hier keine Sonnenblume gibt, weil wir all die latenten Ursachen und Bedingungen nicht sehen können, die hier auf uns warten. Wir haben die Tendenz zu denken, dass, solange wir die Sonnenblumen nicht sehen können, sie nicht existieren, und dass, sobald wir die Sonnenblumen sehen können, sie plötzlich doch existieren.

"Die Worte "nicht existieren" sind nicht wirklich richtig, aber die Worte "existieren" sind auch nicht richtig. Wenn sich etwas noch nicht manifestiert hat, neigen wir dazu zu denken, dass es im Bereich des Nicht-Seins liegt, und wenn es sich manifestiert, sagen wir, dass es im Bereich des Seins liegt. Aber die beiden Kategorien von Sein und Nichtsein entsprechen nicht der Realität. Deshalb sollten wir nicht warten, bis wir große gelbe Blumen auf den Feldern blühen sehen, um zu sagen, dass die Sonnenblumen da sind. Sie sind da, nur verborgen, und ob wir sie sehen oder nicht, ist nur eine Frage der Zeit und der latenten Bedingungen.

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Kernfragen zum Nachdenken: Wie stehen Sie zu der Vorstellung, dass sowohl Existenz als auch Nichtexistenz Kategorien sind, die nicht der Realität entsprechen? Können Sie von einer Erfahrung berichten, bei der Sie das sehen konnten, was latent vorhanden war, lange bevor es sich manifestierte? Was hilft Ihnen, das zu sehen, was auf die richtigen Bedingungen wartet, um zu blühen?

​​​​​​​Thich Nhat Hanh ist ein buddhistischer Mönch, ein Autor, ein Lehrer und eine globale Koryphäe, die von Martin Luther King Jr. für den Friedensnobelpreis nominiert wurde.




Seed Questions for Reflection

How do you relate to the notion that both existence and non-existence are categories that do not correspond to reality? Can you share an experience of a time you were able to see what was latent far before it manifested? What helps you see that which is waiting for the right conditions to bloom?

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13 Past Reflections
VI
Viên Đạo
May 29, 2021
Just a couple of weekends ago I lay outdoors in silent meditation, just looking at the open sky without any focal point or scanning, just open eyes and open sky. Over the course of about an hour I witnessed several small, thin clouds spontaneously appearing and disappearing as they slowly passed. So their existence and non-existence seemed to depend on the basic elements of air (space, wind), water (vapor), heat (sun), earth (gravity and source of vapor) and time and timing; the time elapsed over the generations-decomposition actionof the clouds and timing of my observation. Had I not looked up would the clouds appear, disappear, and reappear? Of course! But since I looked up and witnessed these cloudsappear, disappear, and reappear they very act of witnessing meant a subject-object relationship played out. (For all I know, these clouds may have had a conversation that they saw a person appear and disappear in broad daylight!) They very fact the clouds "appeared" meant that t... View full comment
BA
May 5, 2021
Sankalp is a latent cause and condition called dependent-origination. It becomes known in the realm of being through functioning in subject-object relations. Seeing function comes into existence as the Subject sees the sunflower as an object. This is how we perceive the world through senses, every moment of our living as an experience. Everything seen is just happening, it is not in control of an Individual.
PS
May 4, 2021
When I was a pre-science student in M G Science college, my dream was to get an admission into L D Engineering college in Ahmedabad! Competition was fierce. I needed to get high score! Anything less than Engineering was not an option! Everyday, on my way to MG, I used to pass through LD. That is when I saw the 'sunflower' in full bloom! I used to see myself as a successful student of LD! I used to picture myself as a successful engineer in a big company! I can smell it, taste it, feel it! This visualization gave my sharp focus, a purpose and motivation for hard work! And by the Grace of Divine, I made it! Oh, how sweet is the sight of the Sun Flower! What a great Human Mind we have!
PA
May 4, 2021
Nhat Hanhis physically deteriorating in his last years as he prepares to walk on, but his life has spoken well of love. }:- a.m.
MN
May 4, 2021
Just as Sun is always there, even on days when it is hidden behind the clouds, even during the night when it is on the other side of the Earth....
We know this now and do not doubt it. Let's also nourish our inner knowing of a world where people enjoy wonderful health and wellbeing with love, peace and joy in their open hearts....
CZ
May 3, 2021
Amazing! To hold within one's heart the possibility and the manifestation. The eye of a mystic who can see what is not yet! I have had the priviledge of looking at my garden that surrounds my home and it has been only recently that is around just 8 to 10 years and since then there have been some fruit bearing trees like the mango, guava, chikoo, love apple, custard apple and limes. Out of these only the guava, chickoo and one mango tree has given fruits. I know the others have potential of giving fruits but they will do so in their own time. They have the potential but the manifestation will be at a time when it is ready to do so, when the conditions are right. I wait in hope and perhaps when that day comes I will come back and share with you! For the moment I just thank God and nature for the boutiful harvest of guavas, mangoes and chickoos this year!
DD
May 1, 2021
The meaning of terms depends on how they are defined. For me, there is what exists in space and time, which is manifest in form and is temporary, and there is what exists outside space and time, which is unmanifest and eternal. The manifest is the unmanifest in form. In my opinion, both the manifest in form and the unmanifest exist and are real. Manifest in form does not exist and isn't real until manifest in form. The unmanifest from which a human comes exists and is real, but the human doesn't exist and isn't real until manifest in form. I can imagine what is unmanifest or latent before it manifests, but I don't see the unmanifestbefore it is manifest. My imagination helps me to see what I imagine will manifest. I'm stopping this thinking before I get a headache, which is imagined and doesn't exist and isn't real until it manifests in form.
ME
me May 6, 2021
;)
JP
Apr 30, 2021
I love and deeply enjoy reading the writings of ThichNhat Hanh. In this beautiful passage he conveys a profound messageof relating to what is real. In order to hear what is not said and in order to see what is not manifested requires waiting with patience, open mindedness, open heartedness and conviction that what is not heard and what is not seen is real. As Thich Naht Hanhsaysploughingtheearth,sowing the seeds, and spreading the manure are essential conditions for the blooming of the sun flower. The birth of a poem is like the latent seed turning into a blossoming flower. I feel my heart stirred up with deep feeling of wonder and joy before a poem is born. It is like hearing the sound and feeling the fragrance of a beloved coming from nowhere! I felt the same way when I felt a deep stirring of love in my heart when I saw my beloved for the for firsttime and I still feel the fragrance of love in my heart though she is not physically with me any more. What helps me see that which is ... View full comment
ME
me May 3, 2021
🌱
AL
always May 6, 2021
So beautiful! So beautifully said Jagdish. Amen