Morning Dew!

In the winter months, some days, I watch the dawn break through the dark gloom of the receding night. I can hear the pitter patter of the dew drops dripping down the trees. Slowly, the silhouettes of the plants, the flowers, the grass and the trees take shape. As the light strengthens, I can hear the call of the birds and soon they flutter down to the courtyard to pick at seeds, or insects perhaps. Slowly, gradually, the fields downhill full of banana trees, become visible, and then the densely wooded hill beyond. I know that it is going to take hours for the mist to clear enough to see the tall majestic mountains much farther on.

The growing light and the scenes coming into focus remind me of the life of every embodied soul – the world so dark, unknown when it is born. Then starts the dream of earthly life with all its sights and sounds, growth and change, all the wonders and fears, desires and aversions, passions and attachments, aspirations and love, the body, the world, all so real, all too real. Midday comes and goes, dusk arrives and back comes the mist. In twilight, again the world fades, becomes invisible, subdued by the dark blanket of night. As the hour approaches for body and soul to part, the world with all that was near and dear, fades to oblivion. Only what WAS before, the eternal, imperishable that dreamt it all, remains!