unlockthedoortolearning

The law of cause and effect is beautifully described by Dogen when he writes about the arrival of flowers.

When the time comes, flowers open. This is the moment of flowers, the arrival of flowers.  At this very moment of flowers arriving, there is no other way.  Plum and willow flowers unfailingly bloom on plum and willow trees. You can see the flowers and know plum and willow trees.  You understand flowers by looking at plum and willow trees.  Peach and apricot flowers have never bloomed on plum and willow trees.  Plum and willow flowers bloom on plum and willow trees.   Peach and apricot flowers bloom on peach and apricot trees.  Flowers in the sky bloom in the sky in just this way.  They do not bloom on other grasses or trees (page 130).”[1]

For me this passage represents the idea of what we call in Unity “the law of mind action.”  Thoughts held in mind manifest after their kind.  You cannot think thoughts of fear, anger, jealousy, limitation, or lack and have happiness, success, prosperity, peace, and love appear in your life on the physical, spiritual, or mental plane.  As Dogen said plum flowers come from plum trees NOT apricot trees or grass.

Like creates like, love creates love, hate creates hate.  You cannot plant an apple seed and get a pear tree any more than you can plant a hate filled thought and get a loving response in return.  Thoughts create our reality and Charles Fillmore, the co-founder of Unity, said they have weight and measure.

What did he mean by that?  He illustrated this idea by an experiment that was done at a college during his life time.  They took some of the best athletes in the school and placed them on a perfectly balanced board.  While lying there they first asked them to try to figure out a very difficult mathematical problem and as they worked on the problem the board began to move slowly in the direction of their heads.  Remember when you were on a teeter totter with a friend who was a little heavier than you were it would move in his or her direction.

Next, they asked the student to picture himself running in a race and to keep running as fast as he could to reach the finish line first.  You can all imagine what happened then—the board began to tilt in the direction of the student’s feet.  Thus Charles said, thoughts “have weight and measure.”

What are you producing with your thoughts: illness in mind, body, or spirit, measurably higher blood pressure, blood sugar, anxiety attacks, or migraines?

Dogen goes on to say:

When the old plum tree suddenly blooms, the world of blossoming flowers arises.  At the moment when the world of blossoming flowers arises, spring arrives. There is a single blossom that opens five petals.  At this moment of a single blossom, there are three, four, and five blossoms, hundreds, thousands, myriads, billions of blossoms—countless blossoms (page 130)”[2]

What is blossoming in your life today, be mindful of the forest that you grow.

Shokai

Things to focus on this week:

1.  I will begin each day thinking peach blossoms and growing peach blossoms.

2.  I will remind myself that the content of my thoughts are the content of my actions.

3.  I will remember that I am in charge of the law of cause and effect.

4.  Lastly, I will keep a journal of the opportunities that have been presented to me so I can keep track of my progress and my opportunities for growth.