Long Walks On Leafy Streets

4/23/2015 Kansas Ave at Sheridan St NE, Washington, DC
Spring continues its march here, as the weather half-heartedly gets warmer in fits and starts. The redbuds are in full bloom, as you can see in this picture taken near our home. I finally managed to clear my backyard of weeds, mostly chickweed and those little purple flowers that pop up everywhere. Next it will be the buckhorn plantain’s turn to take over the yard. Those are much harder to take out. The grass is also slowly spreading. Since I don’t do the traditional landscaping, there are different kinds of grass growing on different parts of the yard.

I also don’t use any chemicals to remove the weeds. In fact I pull them out by hand. It certainly takes a little bit more time although not as much as you would think. It is also a very therapeutic exercise, as my friend Kelvin from the old neighborhood on Hobart Place used to say.
It helps calm the mind and refresh the body and spirit. Simply being out in the fresh air working on the soil is such a pleasure. I feel like I am taking out the weeds in my mind at the same time as I am taking out the weeds in the yard. What is a “weed,” anyway? But I digress.

Thich Nhat Hanh often talks about nourishing the good seeds and neglecting the bad seeds in our consciousness. It takes a lot of concentration and alertness to do that. We have a tremendous amount of negative emotions and intentions arising out of our ego and its interaction with the world. Our thoughts are running constantly in all sorts of directions. With my years of meditation and mindfulness practice I thought I was doing a good job of concentrating the mind and nourishing the good seeds. But every day I learn something new. When you look closer you see more. The more you understand the more you learn what you don’t know.

When I was applying for college after graduating from High School I had to go through an interview with a Professor at Vivekananda College. He asked me to come up with an example of a unit vector. Although it is something I knew the question flummoxed me at first. With more prodding I was able to come up with the answer. He told me and my father that I needed to concentrate better. To this day I feel like I am trying to concentrate better. The more I meditate, the more I realize how much more I need to concentrate. Just focusing on the breath, or a chant, or a heartbeat, or the ticking of a clock, for a whole minute takes a lot of effort. Thoughts are ready to jump around every moment. With practice one gets better. The term mindfulness practice is quite apt because it does require lots of practice! But when you are finally able to concentrate completely, whether it is during meditation or while thinking about mathematics, it gives you a great feeling of calmness and strength.

It also gave me immense satisfaction to finish the work and see the yard clear of weeds. I would probably prefer a “wild” garden but for now this space of grass surrounded by flowering plants and vegetable plants on the edges would do. It also conforms to what my neighbors do. We have a good community here, with people taking care of their homes and the neighborhood.

This past week we also got finished with the roof and AC work, and also got a used Nissan Leaf from a dealership in Stafford, VA. It was nice to drive long distance through that undulating green Virginia landscape. I am very excited about the all-electric car and the fact that we won’t be burning any more carbon than we need to.

All of this work was not without its problems but I am learning to deal with them without being overcome by them. The true meaning of Krishna’s exhortation in the Gita “You only have the right to the action not to the results. Do not be attached to the results” is sinking in. I think when Krishna says, “leave all your duties and surrender to me” he means a similar thing. Jesus also says that He will take care of our sins as long as we accept Him completely. Why would we need to let go of our desire for things to happen in a certain way? I think now, with the bit of experience I have, that it is more than just a matter of focusing on what is happening in the moment. It is truly about transcending our little ego and reaching the limitless spirit within.

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