This is the trail I walk to and from the beach. As spring approaches, the stinging nettle grows and grows. Although it stings when you touch it, and although it would make me hesitate to bring the boys down this trail (the technical challenges in places already prevent me from doing this), nettle fills the spring with a glorious green.
This morning I slipped and inadvertently clutched nettle as I fell. It stung, and I remembered that people use nettle to heal. Pain dissolved, and I was reminded of the Buddha. When attacked, he transformed the spears used against him into flowers. Nettle seems to embody this possibility.
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