What Wants To Be Born

William Gass was once asked why he wrote. He said something like, “I don’t write for myself because that would be self-serving. I don’t write for an audience because that would be pandering. I only write for the thing that wants to be born.” I often wonder about my writing. I certainly find some pleasure in it and want to communicate something helpful to others. But I take to heart Gass’s intention because it has the ring of truth for me.

Although I wish to express ideas of Dharma in this journal, I am never sure what wants to be born until I begin to write. My aspiration is that something of the living Dharma takes birth. But I never know. I just surrender some phrases to the page and see how they knit together. I admit to a lack of skill here. But, hopefully, the words land in someone’s heart and take birth there.

If that is true, it is due to the wisdom mind of the reader—not anything I wrote. The Dharma takes birth whenever we behold a mirror to our our natural buddha nature. By settling the habitual tendencies of our filtered mind, we can recognize the Dharma being born in every moment. The word Dharma, after all, means: “That which reveals our true nature and helps us maintain our direction accordingly.” So, Dharma is born in all things if we can recognize it.

Thusly, I write for the thing that wants to be born. Maybe that is enough.