Why I came here, I know not; where I shall go it is useless to inquire — in the midst of myriads of the living and the dead worlds, stars, systems, infinity, why should I be anxious about an atom? – Lord Byron

I think I may have shared this story before, but recent events have brought it back to mind, and have taught me another valuable life lesson…

A Zen Master lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening, while he was away, a thief sneaked into the hut only to find there was nothing in it to steal. The Zen Master returned and found him. “You have come a long way to visit me,” he told the prowler, “and you should not return empty handed. Please take my clothes as a gift.” The thief was bewildered, but he took the clothes and ran away. The Master sat naked, watching the moon. “Poor fellow,” he mused, ” I wish I could give him this beautiful moon.”

Whilst on the train back from London the other week, a young man tried to steal my shopping bag and book.  When I caught him, I yelled at him. He, in turn, yelled back – I can only assume being afraid that he had been caught and going on the defensive, and then retaliating by being aggressive. No one on the train helped in any way.  Had I not yelled at him, the outcome might have been completely different.  Then again, it might not have been.

Had I remained calm, and simply stated calmly “That’s my stuff” perhaps he would have simply returned it without the ensuing shouting match, elevated heart rate and fear of attack that came on.  Should I have simply acted calmly and with compassion? Most likely. Instead, I acted out of anger – this man was stealing my stuff, which I had spent my hard-earned cash on.  Who did he think he was? Anger at someone’s hands on my belongings simply enraged me. And yet, the Zennist would simply reply “Who is this Me?”

If we are all connected, then shouting at him would simply be shouting at myself.  Ridiculous.  This doesn’t mean that those following Zen or Druidry should be doormats – in no way, shape or form does this apply.  It simply means that there are many ways to deal with a situation that involve both compassion and empathy for all involved.  I do not know why he was stealing my things. I can never know why. But he felt a need to. I did not need to respond out of anger.

I was able to let it go, after only a few short hours.  Testament to practice with both Druidry and Zen meditation.  But still, the reaction could have been better in the first place. Of course, there was no way I was going to give him my stuff (I’m SO not there yet) but I should have wanted to give him the moon, at the very least.  It was a wake-up call, that you can talk about how to react to a situation until you are blue in the face, but only when faced with the realities of a situation does the “practice what you preach” come to the fore.

It was a humbling moment.  Anger is found all too easily.  It is a good cover for other emotions and problems in our lives.  Time to return to my core, which is that which is shared between us all.

Concentration is such an important part of both Druid and Zen practice.  Some people have the natural ability to concentrate for long periods of time, others are always being distracted by any number of stimuli, from their own thoughts to external sounds and sights.  In order to get anything done simply, efficiently and will full awareness, we need to develop our concentration.  Meditation goes a long way in helping us to begin the process of learning to concentrate.

There are few times in our easy lives today where if we don’t concentrate, Very Bad Things will happen.  Even times such as driving a car can be done without full concentration – though that is also the cause of most accidents.  How many situations can you think of in your life where, if you don’t concentrate, you will die?

In the natural world, concentration is what keeps most things alive.  The fox, intent on the pheasant, excludes all other distractions to hunt the bird down and fill his belly. He might otherwise starve if he does not have this level of concentration.  The hawk, looking for the starling, the cat and mouse, the deer who is always alert to her environment for her own safety and protection – all of these creatures live with heightened levels of concentration and awareness.  As a Druid, I look to nature for inspiration and examples on how I too can live my life in full awareness.

A lot of people don’t think that you require high levels of concentration for the smaller tasks.  Washing dishes is a great example.  It’s something that most of us have had to do at some point in our lives, and it is a chore.  Looking up the word chore, I came across two definitions;  1 – a small routine task, especially  a domestic one, and 2 – an unpleasant task.  How different are those two definitions?

The first simply states what a chore is. The second makes a judgement call on it.  In order to concentrate, we have to leave judgement calls out of our tasks, otherwise we risk becoming embroiled in our thoughts, getting them all tangled up again and losing our focus on the task at hand.  While I went to the office kitchen to wash my mug today, I found I couldn’t wash my mug, as the sink was full of other people’s mugs.  We have, like many other offices around the world, signs everywhere asking people to wash up after themselves, with varying degrees of humour.  My first reaction was annoyance that other people were such pigs – then I caught myself. I was making a judgement call.  What would happen if I simply got on and washed up all the mugs, along with my own? What if I adopted the principles of Zen and non-attachment?

The answer was a very pleasant experience.  Taking all the mugs out and refilling the tub with warm, soapy water, I honed my concentration in and picked up a mug, putting it into the water and washing it thoroughly. I paid special attention to the task, and it was so much more enjoyable.  The feeling of the warm water on my hands was lovely – it was like having a mini-bath for my hands to relax in in the middle of the day.  I then caught myself again, as I found I was attaching to how lovely the experience was.  I should simply experience it and not make judgement calls, otherwise I could get lost in my thoughts and lose concentration.

So I kept at it.  I still enjoyed the warm water and the time away from my desk, and the end result was a clean kitchen with my own mug nice and washed up as well.  It was a much better experience than the usual “Sigh. Looks like I’ve got to do this. Again.”  With each mug, there was no thought on how awful other people are, leaving their dirty work for others.  Lipstick on one mug – no thought or judgement on that, simply something to wash.  When I did find myself wandering in my thoughts, I brought myself back, and noticed that the bowl I had just “cleaned” was, in fact, still dirty.  Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate.

When we let go of the concept of “menial” tasks, everything becomes special and worthy of concentration.  Taking it even further, listening to your child, driving your car, writing your book, making love, stroking the cat – all of these gain more significance because you have devoted your concentration to them, and by doing so, establishing a better relationship with the world around you.

Druidry is all about relationship.  It’s hard to have a relationship with someone who isn’t paying attention to you, who is ignoring you or thinking about other things when you are engaging with them.  So we should try and devote our levels of concentration to every task that we can think of, in order to make all relationships special.  Our lives will become more fulfilled, and dare I say it – even rewarding (though rewards are NOT the goals in life, living is the goal to life).

Taking concentration to even the “smallest” of tasks means that we will be better equipped when we attempt the “larger” ones, such as Druid ritual.  However we may celebrate, the main point behind Druid ritual is intention.  If we lose concentration, our intention can easily become lost, or twisted, our relationship faltering.  Intention is described as “an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result” (from an online dictionary).  Our mental faculties must be honed in order for the action or result to be successful, or meaningful in some way.  We can determine mentally upon some action, but unless we apply concentration, that result may not be what we would wish for.

With ritual, whether we are celebrating the seasons, or healing a friend, honouring an accomplishment or singing back to the land, it is our intention combined with our concentration that makes what we are doing both special, and not so special.  This may sound like a contradiction – well, it is and it isn’t!

If we apply high levels of concentration to everything we do, we make everything “special” in some way. If we carry this all the way to Druid ritual, we find that ritual is both something special and nothing special at all – it is a time that we set aside for a certain purpose, devoting ourselves to the moment, which can seem special, yet by carrying our intention through all that we do in our lives, ritual becomes a part of our lives that is as important as, say, washing the dishes.  The mundane becomes sacred, and we see the awen in everything.

Autumn – thanks be to all the gods that it is here.  I don’t usually write very personal posts, but at this time of year a little introspection seems appropriate.

After a physically and emotionally exhausting summer, the cool autumn days are a welcome relief.  Time to step out of the burning light and into the gentler, calmer times.  Having worked hard all summer, it is now time to reap the rewards, in the hopes of a successful harvest.  With the autumn equinox on the 22^nd, that special time of balance, where everything hovers with hushed breath as the season turns towards the dark half of the year – it is these changing times that are the most powerful for me.  I stand, on the edge, waiting to either jump, topple over or be pushed into change…

It is a time for coming back to “place” – which for me is home, my environment.  Having spent the summer going all over this country and others, visiting friends and family, going to events, festivals, etc, the return to home where I can simply sit and enjoy the walls around me, or my garden and the beech tree outside, or the heathland and deer, the rocky shingle beach on the east coast – these things become all the more important.  I now have time.  I can see it stretching out lazily in front of me – not to be taken for granted, but to be enjoyed in silence, time to heal, to return.  After a couple of health scares, a physically demanding summer and emotional turmoil, autumn reaches out a hand and urges me to lie on the cool grass and watch as the leaves fall gently around me, a fresh north wind breeze upon my skin as the clouds drift with dignity in a bright blue sky.

I look forward to buying a fresh supply of firewood for the winter this weekend, to enjoy long, dark evenings in with my husband and cats, or in the simple pleasure of my own company in the silence that the coming winter brings.  I look forward to spending more time with my husband, whom I’ve barely seen this summer – I look forward to falling in love with him all over again.  Baking apple crisp and bread, muffins and cookies, having time to make proper home-cooked meals, brewing my own port and mead.  Getting to know my garden again.

Welcome autumn.  It is time to rest now.  Time to close my eyes, and dream it all up again.