22/12/2025
Winter training is important. As the days get shorter and ever darker and it seems gloom will swallow everything beyond hope - suddenly it turns and once more the light begins to prevail. This is what we need to keep in mind and heart when we think we can no longer continue or endure - just that is the turning point and if we have the strength to devoutly hold together and go with it, the new that wants to be will open. The strength necessary for this accrues from the Daily Life Practice and devotion or faith points to a centre that is other and more than ‘I’. It does not matter what name we give to it for in itself it is inconceivable and names are at best pointers. The Real, the Mystery, the Radiance is behind the concept, the ‘name only’.
And so, for us, this time of the year is twice impressive - the Buddha’s Enlightenment, in the darkest time of the year, followed by the feast of Christmas, the birth of the Christ, the light appearing again and the radiance attending the new birth. Again a pointer to that inexpressible which cannot be named and can only be lived - in gratitude and joy. This truly brings to light our dark world. May our hearts be receptive and reflect this light - for the sake of all beings.
P198 Zen Traces. Volume 21 Number 1 December 1998
https://rinzaizencentre.org.uk/journal/
