For June's Children's Program, we gathered virtually and celebrated the sweetness of early summer! We began by introducing ourselves and sharing something we've been noticing about the natural world, including the purple irises, deep pink peonies, variable temperatures, and the arrival of the wild strawberries at Shao Shan Temple!
We then read and acted out the Zen story, "A Man, Two Tigers, and a Strawberry," as told in the book Kindness by Sarah Conover. In the story a monk is gathering firewood in the forest, when all of a sudden he comes face to face with a ferocious tiger. The man flees the tiger as fast as he can, dodging obstacles along the way, until he comes to a cliff. He lowers himself onto a vine overhanging the cliff, and then realizes that there is another tiger at the base of the cliff, as well as a squirrel eating away at the vine that is supporting him. As the monk contemplates his predicament, he notices a small strawberry growing out of the side of the cliff, plucks it, and eats it with great gusto and appreciation.
We discussed how when there are difficult things that happen to us (though hopefully not that difficult!), and it can sometimes be helpful to also notice the things in the present moment that we appreciate or are going well, not as a way to ignore the difficult things, but rather to put them in a broader perspective. We then practiced mindful eating meditation and closed with a ringing of the temple bell and a group OM.
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| Tiny Shao Shan Wild Strawberries |
