Shining Character

     "Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, was once asked, 'Why do we do meditation?'
     He answered, 'To polish our character.'
     To polish something is to make it shine. Polishing our character is not that different from polishing anything - a wood carving, a silver candlestick, a glass lens, an inlaid tabletop, a model clipper ship. Why do we want anything to shine? Why do we want ourselves to shine? For the joy of it, I think. I can't think of a better reason.
     Why do such things give us joy as human beings? Why are we made the way we are? I cannot answer such questions. Spiritual practice is not about why, it is all about how."

       Lewis Richmond: Work as a Spiritual Practice. A Practical Buddhist Approach to Inner Growth and Satisfaction on the Job. Broadway Books, NY, 1999.
 

Бирюков Юрий, National Geographic   http://photography.nationalgeographic.com