From the Editors

   Enza Vita                        Leo Drioli

Adelaide issue 5

“Is it true, Is it
necessary, Is it kind?”

On a beautiful spring day I look up at a clear blue sky and drink up its beauty. I take a walk and meet the presence of the blossom in the almond tree as it awakens me to its truth. My nostrils take in the gift of sweet scent as I am lifted into my heart.

This is it… this is what surrounds us in every moment. The seasons may change. The years may flow. But in truth nothing really changes. Life flows from infinity to eternity. One vast expanse moving towards another. And here we sit…embraced by it all, this cosmic miracle that pulsates with purpose and divine presence yet, how often we miss it.

In a cartoon, two zen monks in robes and shaved heads are sitting together, one young, one old, sitting side by side cross-legged on the floor. The younger one is looking somewhat quizically at the older one, who is turned toward him and saying: “Nothing happens next. This is it.”

We are all results driven but the realisation of truth is something different altogether. The most insignificant looking moment could very well be the one that cuts straight through the illusion to the very core of who and what we truly are, revealing the “suchness” that the Zen monks were contemplating.

Rumi reminds us…
What I want to do is see your face in a tree,
In the sun coming out, in the air.
What I want is to hear the falcon drum,
And light again on your forearm.
He who is not to be found,
Is the one I’m looking for.
Beyond wanting, beyond place, inside form, that one.
A flute says I have no hope of finding that,
But Love is playing.
Love plays and plays, and is the music played.
Let that musician finish this poem,
Shams, I am a waterbird, flying into your sun.

When we forget the vastness of the lovedrenched truth that we truly are as eternal beings, we look for ways out of our suffering through distraction, losing touch with the Infinite that is right before our eyes, in every moment.

Thich Nhat Hanh, in “No Death, No Fear” addresses this eternal ‘suchness of life’ that we all truly are one with, yet so easily fail to recognise.

“The Buddha said the nature of your reality is the nature of no birth and no death; no coming, no going; no being, no non -being; no same, no different…

We have to remove all notions concerning reality. Then we touch the ultimate reality of suchness.”

As I was interviewing some local people for the“What is enlightenment?” article in this issue, I found myself moved by the “suchness” of their perspectives… As we grappled with the question, we would journey together from head to heart… revealing the “impossible to translate” that we all carry within us. What I saw was that in each response, the actual attempt at finding a truthful answer took us both deeper. And each perspective offered another
window into the vastness that’s before us.

We all meet each other at this mundane level, masquerading as insignificant and inconsequential beings but, scratch a little and you’ll be amazed at what you’ll find within everyone you meet.

My spiritual master, Sri Harold Klemp reminds us to always look for the gold in our every encounter, offering the following way to witness our every thought, word and action:
“Is it true, Is it
necessary, Is it kind?”

Jack Wexler, an international explorer of enlightenment for many years, who lives right here in Adelaide, reminded me of this priceless approach to awakening through the following response from the “What is Enlightenment?” article.

“The measure of one’s spiritual growth is not the experiences that you have, its not the phenomenal, subtle spiritual experiences. Its not whether you see Angels. The actual message of one’s spiritual growth and awakening is the measure of
treating others with more kindness.”

With love,
Leo Drioli & Enza Vita.

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