The new Abbess of Shasta Abbey gave a Dharma Talk this morning on the subject of Trust. Towards the end of the talk she speaks of the need to hold fast to trust likening that to those tough little trees that cling perilously to the rocks on mountain sides. Well placed to withstand the winds of the Eight Worldly Conditions.
I’ve just listened to the dharma talk. What a lovely gentle and accepting voice. Delivering a tough message though or so it feels to me – I spend time working out what I think in essence are contingencies against the unplanned, against what I hoped for or intended, not actually happening. Trust in this sense is how I always understood the idea of “a leap of faith”.
I jump and hope I will land where I want, but I have already worked out that if I don’t, it’ll be ok anyway or wont be a complete disaster. So not faith or trust but calculated risk. Real trust is a bungy jump without the bungy. Maybe I need to stop trying to be a booky or an insurance risk adjuster and just…
The analogy with the trees on the sides of inhospitable hills, sometimes no more than rock faces, is great – I have so often admired and marvelled at them – I picture little oaks which have aerodynamically shaped themselves so the wind sweeps over them. And they are still there year after year – wise and grounded. No doubt many acorns didnt make it – maybe they were winter food for a squirrel instead. I want to be a tree rather than squirrel food – but why?
“Trust the Eternal, give up everything. For the Jewel is in your open palm.”