Keeps nothing it does not need

Leaves on the earth

18th January, 2009

It has been raining. I have been away for a few days in northern Tasmania, visiting and interviewing for my work. I visit people who put their life’s energy into preservation, restoration, collection – plants, buildings, things. I am still feeling internally disturbed by the final visit. 93 years old, she is collecting years – and is a self-confessed hoarder.

            Then this morning I stood on the wet earth, poured the cup onto wet leaves, and saw how the tree keeps nothing it does not need.

The leaves from last year are covering the earth, protecting it, and feeding it with their spent bodies. Their Vishnu energy maintains the life of the tree, the planet, the soil; their Shiva energy lets them dissolve, transforming from the leaf form to the soil form.

The tree keeps nothing it does not need.