“We can feel the turning of the seasons in every breath, here whenever we pay attention.” — Jack Kornfield
Dear friends,
It’s September and we are in the change of seasons—the great turning from the warmth and abundance of summer into autumn, when the natural world offers us its perennial reminder of impermanence and the wisdom of letting go.
As we pay attention, we can feel this turning all around us: in the changing light, the cooling air, the lengthening nights, and the leaves releasing themselves to the wind. There is a great rhythm to the world—the turning of the seasons, the movement of the cosmos, the music of the spheres, and the beating of our own hearts.
Everything in nature opens and closes. The lungs expand and release. The heart beats. The seasons turn, and the tides come in and go out with the phases of the moon. The whole universe is breathing. When we are quiet, we can sense ourselves as part of this vast and mysterious unfolding.
But sometimes we get confused, thinking spiritual life aims to expand to some beautiful state and remain there forever. But life doesn’t work that way. There is joy and sorrow, gain and loss, praise and blame. Human life has its cycles—times to be quiet, times to give, times to grow, and times to let go.
The invitation is not to hold the inhale, but to love the exhale too.
Autumn offers us this teaching. The trees do not cling to their leaves. The gardens offer their final harvest. The earth shows us that letting go is not a failure, but part of the great rhythm of renewal.
When we sit quietly and face the stillness, we begin to feel the immense beauty of life, as well as the grief we carry for the sorrows of the world. All of it is there when we become quiet.
Our practice asks us to make room for it all—to meet change not with fear or resistance, but with curiosity, tenderness, and a trusting heart.
As we approach the equinox, take time to become still.
Notice what has ripened. Honor what has been lost.
Ask what you are ready to release, and what quiet wisdom is waiting to be uncovered.
May this changing season remind you that every season of the heart is good.
With metta,
Jack
