Once upon a time, there was a boy. He lived in a village that no longer exists, in a house that no longer exists, on the edge of a field that no longer exists, where everything was discovered, and everything was possible. A stick could be a sword, a pebble could be a diamond, a tree, a castle. Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in a house across the field, from a girl who no longer exists. They made up a thousand games. She was queen and he was king. In the autumn light her hair shone like a crown. They collected the world in small handfuls, and when the sky grew dark, they parted with leaves in their hair. Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.” ~ The History of Love

I believe in Love. I choose Love. The Great Mystery without which I would not want to live. I choose to speak its words with my mouth, to express its wonder with my actions, to whisper its mysterious ways into the ear of my beloved. I choose to be preoccupied by it wherever I go, to look for it wherever I am, in every room I enter, in the eyes, the window to a person’s soul of everyone I meet.

I would rather Love and lose (and I have) than never to have loved at all.

Every day and every moment of my life for as long as I can and in every way I can, I want my daughter to know Love so thoroughly through and through. I will be an instrument for that. I want the children of every parent to know Love. I want the parents of every child to know Love. I want every man and every woman to know Love. I want you to know it through and through.

Where there is Love there is Beauty, there is Confidence, there is Potential, there is Joy, there is Wonder, there is God. Love leaves us with the remembrance of Miracles, Possibilities never imagined apart from it, of lifetimes’ past and of Heaven’s future.

So in the end all that matters is Love.

All that’s necessary is Love. Love pervades the entire Universe. Listen for Its Voice, feel its breath upon you and within you as it whispers — “You are Love”. Then go forward and act accordingly.

I Love You, Seijaku Roshi

Seijaku Roshi is the abbot of Jizo-an Monastery at the Pine Wind Zen Community, located at 863 McKendimen Rd., in Shamong. For more information, call 609-268-9151 or visit Jizo-an.org.