Face to Face   



© by Shu Ryu So On.

“This is a Face to Face practice,” she said to me.
Buddhism is often described that way.
It isn’t about what we read in a book or what we might
look like sitting on a meditation cushion.
It’s not even about shaving our head and taking a vow.
My experience thus far shows me,
as my teacher indicated,
it’s about our actions.
Those actions that are often seen by another,
the ones that often affect many others.
When they aren’t witnessed,
we can often hide,
even from ourselves.
Within the face I have captured here,
there is a witness.
Not just the witness viewing the photo,
but the Buddha within.
The honest, self reflective part of oneself
that is behind the disguise.
The nature within that knows no falsehoods.
The one that shares, cares, and sees the suffering in the world.
The one that strives never to add to the suffering.
The beauty of this is enhanced by
the setting this great statue spends its days and nights.
The adobe hut sheltering this beauty is set within
the fertile landscape of Green Gulch Farms, There are no better places to witness the suns rising ceremony.

Green Gulch Farms, California: March 2008