Learning from a spider’s web
Learning from a spider’s webTaking a break the other day to absorb some sad and upsetting news, I sat outside and fortuitously, looked up and saw a spider reconstructing a web which had been damaged by the wind.Taking a break the other day to absorb some sad and upsetting news, I sat outside and fortuitously, looked up and saw a spider reconstructing a web which had been damaged by the wind.
Taking a break the other day to absorb some sad and upsetting news, I sat outside and fortuitously, looked up and saw a spider reconstructing a web which had been damaged by the wind.
And if that isn’t a few classes of Buddhism 101 personified (or spiderfied), I don’t know what is.
The interconnection of our actions of body (the web) and mind (the intention to rebuild the web); the power and dependence of conditions for what the results of our actions are (wind breaking the threads – maybe like the eight worldly winds of gain/loss, praise/blame, pleasure/pain, fame/disgrace); the (apparently) calm recognition that things are impermanent, change, let go, die; the choice to continue to reconnect/create even in the face of loss and change and disappointment (ok, I am projecting on the spider a bit with the last…).
Perhaps it’s a lesson about something we are infinitely familiar with or something new, something we can pass on to a friend or something we can learn from them. If we choose, there is the endless opportunity to watch, listen, learn, reflect – and from that, grow, change, let go and blossom. If we stop and look, stop and feel, hear, smell and taste. A veritable spider’s web of possibilities for living this life in connection with others, with kind awareness and curiosity.
With a bow to Wonder Spider
Maitripushpa
