Early one morning on the BART train toward a job interview for yet another consulting position, I realized that the car was all but empty as it sped north. My sole companion got off at the next stop, just as the sun broke over the East Bay hills. The next stop was miles ahead, through a scenic stretch of woods, brooks, ponds. I felt a great peace as sunlight flashed brilliantly through the sparse woods. The past four months of 70-hour weeks were brutal; I was glad when the job wrapped up even though finding another position was at least as brutal as the jobs themselves. The country was in the worst downturn since the Depression, but I was go for anything.
Right now I just enjoyed the opportunity of dawn and the solitude. Moments of this kind of deep solitude happened almost daily. They were a great opportunity for turning inward, for reflection--true Zen.
The better path discovers
enduring pleasures of simplicity:
meditation, forest, brook, daybreak,
solitude, rebirth of the spirit.
Rediscovered, the true self awakens
appreciation of the natural, the unalloyed;
it is the soul's sunrise.
Solitude is a balm for the weary heart,
cool water soothing a parched throat.
It yields introspection,
opportunities for self-discovery.
Insights illuminate like lightning flashes
striking the midnight.
Amid the world's turbulence, silence wraps
secluded moments: necessary for the mind
as courage spanning hours of adversity.
Like wiping dust from a mirror,
examining the heart within solitude's reflectivity,
patiently watching thoughts meander
we are least alone.
