Happy Father's Day, Gassho- Respect & Gratitude

This is my first Father's Day without my Dad here on the material plane with me. I am dealing quite well with his death.. I am not sad. In fact, this may sound strange but I almost feel closer to him. It is an honour to be his daughter..I know he is happy and close to me. I wish a special Happy Father's Day to my Dad, and especially to my husband- who is also a great Dad. .. and to all the fathers and even to all the men out there for their father potential and for caring and nurturing and loving all of us, all of us women and children. ~Gassho~

"People often ask me how Buddhists answer the question: "Does God exist?"

The other day I was walking along the river. The wind was blowing. Suddenly I though, Oh! the air really exists. We know that the air is there, but unless the wind blows against our face, we are not aware of it. Here in the wind I was suddenly aware, yes, it's really there.

And the sun too. I was suddenly aware of the sun, shining through the bare trees. Its warmth, its brightness, and all this completely free, completely gratuitous. Simply there for us to enjoy.

And without my knowing it, completely spontaneously, my two hands came together, and I realized that I was making a gassho.* And it occurred to me that this is all that matters: that we can bow. Just that. Just that."

~Eido Tai Shimano, Zen Master, quoted in A Listening Heart: The Art of Contemplative Living, by David Steindl-Rast, p. 83

* A gassho is the gesture of raising the hands palm to palm to indicate respect, gratitude, humility, or all three.