Long Walks On Leafy Streets

3/26/2015 Zilker Park, Austin, TX
On Tuesday last week we had our windows replaced. This is the first of many home improvement projects we are undertaking in order to prepare our home for the baby boy on his way. All of them will reduce our environmental impact. The windows we now have are more energy efficient. We are replacing the AC unit that is not working with a new, highly energy efficient model. The roof that is leaky will be replaced with a structure that will provide additional insulation. Finally, and this is my favorite of all, we will be installing solar panels.

An additional benefit of the new windows is that our home is suddenly feeling a lot quieter. I should say I did appreciate the sound of the trains at night and at other times the sounds of the neighborhood. I can certainly still listen to them if I want to, by opening the windows, especially in the summer.
But I do cherish the moments of quietness in life. After a hectic day it is wonderful to sit down at night and enjoy the silence, however briefly.

I am reading Thich Nhat Hanh’s book “Silence” as part of a book group with the Washington Mindfulness Community. He says in the very beginning, “The basic condition for us to be able to hear the call of beauty and respond to it is silence.” In order to truly appreciate the beauty of the world, one has to be quiet, both in body and mind. Thay means the deeper silence within, but it certainly is easier to be quiet within if it is quiet around us.

He also says in this book, “What we all need is to stop the noise in our mind in order for the wondrous sounds of life to be heard.” That is the true silence of the spirit within us. Lately I feel like this is what I have been trying to do, for the past several years – to quiet the mind. At moments when my mind is quiet I can feel the strength of the spirit, and overcome the fear, anger, jealousy and other petty feelings. Day before yesterday I was on top of our porch roof clearing some debris from the roof work. I could feel my fear of heights coming up. As soon as I quieted the mind and focused on the work the fears receded. I felt like I could continue even with the fear in the background.

Saturday night I went to see the movie “Even though the whole world is burning” about the life and work of W. S. Merwin, our current poet laureate. He has been living since the 70’s in Maui, growing a forest all by himself on his 19-acre ranch. Disillusioned by the Vietnam War and wanting to find a deeper meaning and purpose to his life he went to Maui in search of a Zen Buddhist teacher. He ended up making it his home, feeling that the life there connected him to his roots, which lie in living in harmony with nature. It was a deeply moving movie, one that quieted the mind and brought me closer to my inner spirit.

While going to the movie I started thinking about our baby. In a way having a baby is like leaving something of you in the world. Then it occurred to me that each living being is special, and when it dies without leaving an offspring, something is lost. It is easier for us to feel the need to save different species from extinction. Yet we need to keep in mind that each living being that we meet is unique and worthy of protection and love. The life of the W. S. Merwin somehow reminded me of that and filled me with a sense of peace and love for our fellow beings.

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