With the arrival of spring, the glory of the cherry blossoms in full bloom makes the heart leap.
The tightly closed buds open up, and then—in what seems like no time at all—the blossoms are at their peak. But in less than a week, the petals begin to fall, and all too soon the cherry trees are sprouting leaves. The brief scattering of petals is itself graceful. It is a constant and ever-changing scene. And the beauty of it all is captivating.
What the Japanese prize most is the fragility of the cherry blossoms’ beauty. The blossoms are lovely because of their evanescence—we sense in them the ephemerality of life. It is said that this appreciation of the ephemeral is what enabled Zen Buddhism to take root and spread throughout Japan. There is, in fact, a deep connection between Zen thought and the reverence of cherry blossoms.
It is the same with our lives. Everything is constantly in flux. There are changes as we age and changes in our surroundings.
There is nothing to fear in these changes.
A supple mind accepts change and is not attached to the past. Rather than lament change, it finds new beauty and hope in it. That is a life to which to aspire.