Mother as Zen Master


My beloved Divine Mother
Dance with me
under the soft moon shining
in the wide open fields
far beyond the toil and trouble
of my busy mind

My beautiful Divine Mother
This universe is your body
Alive and blushing with cosmic streams
And rivers of love
                                                                           {Ethan Walker: Soft Moon Shining}

Today in the UK we are celebrating 'Mother's Day', and Ethan Walker’s Soft Moon Shining is a fabulous anthology of devotional poetry honouring the Divine Mother. Among the most universally recognised archetype, the mother is nurturer and giver of unconditional love, and a very significant dynamic in shaping the child’s personality, and steering them towards their destiny.
                 The mother (and father) has two roles, parent and mentor/teacher. Parents make sure that you are protected, have food, clothes and a roof over your head, but they may never see who you are. The mentor/teacher on the other hand, operates in an entirely different dimension, often not conscious even to them. The mentor is less focused on your well-being and more concerned with your spiritual growth.
                The parent as mentor/teacher whom the child often seeks outside the home, is the person who sees who you are, sees your beauty, falls in love with it, helps and inspires it, giving it a chance to bloom in the world. Many people, including me, complain that their parents do not really know them; they have ‘parenting’ issues that they may well replicate in their own lives as parents.
                Today, and every day since I became a little more conscious, I express gratitude for the fact that my own mother’s performance of both her ‘parenting’ and ‘mentoring’ roles was outstanding. In terms of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs pyramid, my mother worked hard to ensure that my basic physiological needs were met. She also laid the strongest foundations for me to pursue self-actualization needs, which lie at the apex of the pyramid.
              Nowadays on Mother’s Day, long after her death, I smile and bow to my mother, as the student does to the Zen Master, because she modelled one of the greatest spiritual tenets, that of non-attachment.  

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