Early autumn rain cleanses away smeared heat.
A grateful traveler takes in crystal skies and crisp
     air.
Distant mountains seem more vast and blue,
and the sound of the waterfall grows more
   loud.

Autumn is coming. The air becomes fresh and crisp. The fruits of summer are being harvested; the heat of labor is beginning to cool. There is a more relaxed feeling in the air: The fiery activity of summer is replaced by the celebrations of autumn.

In spring, we all had to struggle to make the ascendancy of the year. Now, we can begin to let things relax. Just as the pumpkins are beginning to fill out, the squash is hanging heavy and golden on the vines, and the leaves are starting to hit of warm colors, so too can we look forward to mellowness and quietness.

This is the time for harvest. But every planting and growing season also leaves behind excess and inevitable waste. The dust of summer still lingers. The stubble in the fields will have to be burned. We must harvest fully and then clean up fully. Harvest is also the time of cleansing and taking stock.



cleansing
365 Tao
daily meditations
Deng Ming-Dao (author)
ISBN 0-06-250223-9