Giving up

We cannot change ourselves by trying to change ourselves. Siddhartha Gautama tried all manner of austerities and penances before quitting them all and becoming the Buddha. Orchids make no effort. Neither shall we.

The being-ness of beauty

How does a single cut flower, so still, silent and surrendered, convene the attention of an entire room, then ‘float’ that room with beauty and aliveness and love? Well, not by doing anything.

Life purpose

Life has no purpose. This is the whole point of Buddha’s flower sermon. It’s also the answer to Stephen Hawking’s unanswerable question: “Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?”

Testify

The thing about a flower is that it has no purpose. Me neither.

The answer to everything

If one question leads to another question, the first question has not been answered. Herein the thrust, the loaded stamen, of Buddha’s Flower Sermon. Beauty is the answer to everything.