Nothing Simpler Than To Wait

by Yenkuei Chuang

Pause, rest. Do nothing and it will happen. In fact, the miracle of birth, the miracle of life is already here in this very moment, without having to do anything more. Nothing simpler than to wait.

Wait for the glory of the blooms. One shovelful at a time, a splash of rain here and a blot of sunshine there. The unknown heroes who chose to stay unknown because they do not believe that glory belongs to them. Glory is glory. Glory blooms for all who can see and receive.  Nothing simpler than to wait. Pause, rest, and see.

But. But I have children to take care of. I have groceries to shop for, clients and students to see. I have to make a dance. I have to write. I have to cook. I have to sleep. I have things to do! There is nothing simple in my life. I am an aberrant of life’s Way. I do not follow my way – my path that flows into the greater Path.

Instead, I am here, busy.
Busy making drama and dustballs that keep me from seeing what is moving, changing, and blooming into glory.

Let me wait. Let me go unnoticed in the earth. Nothing simpler than this. Pause, rest.  And I shall see.

My practice is to see the entire world as my sangha, my beloved community. It is a practice of non-fear and non-separation. Whenever I catch myself with ill feelings, I come back to my breath, pause, and see myself and the situation with eyes of compassion. -Yenkuei Chuang

About Yenkuei Chuang

Yenkuei was born a Taiwanese girl before she became an American woman. Before falling in love with the dharma, Yenkuei lived as a modern dancer and psychologist.  Before meeting her partner and father of her four children, she met the monastics at Green Mountain Dharma Center, Thich Nhat Hanh’s first monastery in the United States.  She is grateful to them all for teaching her how to love, be happy, and live an awakened life.

Yenkuei is a mindfulness-based licensed psychologist and an ordained member of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing. She received her M.Ed. in Human Development from Harvard University and Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Stanford University. Also a Fulbright Fellow, she wrote her dissertation on Bicultural Competence.  Yenkuei is passionate about helping people transform their suffering across life transitions; and cultural, gender, racial and other perceived differences and separations.

She enjoys being a mother to her four children, writing, cooking and dancing. She is immensely grateful for the love and wisdom of dance in her life. She has also been a long-term student in Iyengar Yoga, and happily integrates her studies of yoga and Buddhist meditation.  She gives thanks to her children and parents, Billy, Thay, and many other unnamed friends for their support.

Yenkuei teaches mindfulness at Down Under Yoga Studios in Boston, Massachusetts and offers private sessions in psychotherapy and life coaching.