Autumn and Oneness

Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) founder of the Soto School of Zen Buddhism wrote of Autumn: 

Speechless in Autumn

In autumn, both the clouds and sun are calm and stately.

They partly chase the time of year, and partly stand still.

While facing [such autumn sky] I wonder how to speak,

and can’t find any transcendent response.

In the moment of Oneness.

Speaking without words, Autumn teaches the Dharma of impermanence and change. Leaves change color, and fall, nothing to cling to. 

Impermanence and change surrounding them, do the people in the photo hear the Dharma talk?  Or recognize themselves as the Dharma of impermanence and change? Of being both the landscape and part of it?

When we experience the beauty of autumn, does longing or nostalgia arise? The feeling or sensing of one season ending and another beginning? Do memories of the past, of loss arise? Or of anticipation of what is to come?

We are given the gift of this life, of seeing, hearing, tasting, becoming intimate with and appreciating this life. What we do with this gift is ours to discover and realize.

Autumn is just being Autumn. Nature is just being Nature. Human is just being Human. All interconnected and interdependent. All just One.