First Snow

If only you could hear
the sound of snow...
Hakuin Ikaku

Ah, the first snows of the season, turning the realm white, making everything pristine, crystalline and sparkling...

Snow fell on the village overnight as promised, and a light snow is falling now. With winter precipitation in the forecast for this whole week, it is safe to say that the long white season has arrived, and that the residual grays and browns of late autumn will be disappearing under a blanket of snow in the next day or so.

It is difficult to express the feelings that rise with the first snowfall, but the words wabi sabi describe them as well as any expression may be said to do that. There is radiant stillness, a kind of tranquil melancholy; a non-attachment beyond all coming and going which honors tathata or suchness, the turning of the seasons and the perfect spontaneous unfolding of the world around us.

At the same time there is joy, just to be here and witnessing this first visual manifestation of winter. Across the years and countless wind tossed seasons, Hakuin's ecstatic poem says it all.