Today while playing on the grass, I noticed a tiny yellow flower bud within the “weed” plants that grow in our lawn. I saw there were a few of them in the small area I was looking at, and I paused to really look at them. I thought, if I can stop and take in the beauty of a rosebush, or a stand of wildflowers, can’t I have that same appreciation for these tiny yellow buds?
It made me think about what it means for something to be alive, whether I intended to see it there, or whether I even have any real use for it. Does it matter what I think, when it comes to the pricelessness of any expression of life?
In this vein, here’s the koan I came across while trying to focus my thoughts to write of zen:
Everything Is Best
A monk named Banzan was browsing the market, passing by a butcher’s shop. He wasn’t planning to eat meat himself, but he was close enough to hear a customer tell the butcher, “I want to buy your best piece of meat.”
The butcher replied, “Just look around and tell me what you want. Everything you see in my shop is the best.”
That made Banzan stop to think what it would mean, to perceive that everything he saw truly was the best. Even the dead flesh of slaughtered beings, this was also the best. This shattered his illusions of better and worse, bringing him the experience of enlightenment.
Nynia in the Now 
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