Spring Equinox, with the promise of new beginnings, is upon us!
After the coldest winter in Pennsylvania in over 20 years, and one of the snowiest, today is welcomed with open arms, face titled to the sun like a heliotrope.

This morning was the beginning of our Spring Ango at the Blue Mountain Lotus Society, for those of us who wish to follow the 8 Gates of Zen more closely, with the intention of a lion, the intention of a sparrow.  With my vow this morning at dawn, I felt very much the tiny speck in the Universe that I truly am, here for such a short time, and felt the urge once again to make the most of it!

Sensei asked that we take our vow with a witness, and in my haste to begin, the only witness I could find who was not sleeping was the dog.  That's OK.  He pressed against my leg reassuringly as I recited the vow.
When I offered incense, I got a little to close to his fur and set a bit on fire, so that the scent of the incense was tinged with the scent of burning hair.  
Again, OK.  The dog didn't notice, and I had a good laugh.
Does it make less of the vow to open the All Seeing Eye of Wisdom, to observe the way of the monk, moving as Unsui, cloud and water?

In this Peaceful Dwelling let all things be the practice, let all things prompt clarity, compassion and wisdom.