Why Meditate?

Why Meditate?

When we define suffering as wanting
steak in a sushi bar,
we can direct awareness
to the root of suffering.

The lovely flower blooms now,
such a humdrum bud yesterday.
And tomorrow, it wilts
in the vanishing sun.

But there, on the ground,
left behind by the contented critter--
a seed, so unknowingly ready
to sleep through the winter.

So as the flower began its dirge,
began to notice its dehydration,
was it worried about wryness?
Or did it appreciate the grateful bees?

For when we learn to know the now,
we avoid the root of suffering, and
though suffering remains a part of living,
living becomes a part of suffering.