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Living a Life of Compassion


Living a Life of Compassion


Compassion is one of the principal things that make our lives meaningful.


—H. H. the Dalai Lama, “Consider Yourself a Tourist”

Breathe with Your Whole Body


Breathe with Your Whole Body


To better understand how to breathe with the conscious participation of

the whole body, nothing is more helpful than to recognize that, in a

deeply relaxed body, the force of breath can cause the entire body to

remain in a state of subtle, constant, fluid motion.


—Will Johnson, "Breath Moves Body"

Creating a Balanced and Accepting Mind


Creating a Balanced and Accepting Mind


Equanimity is not insensitivity, indifference, or apathy. It is simply nonpreferential.

Under its influence, one does not push aside the things one dislikes or grasp at the things one prefers.

The mind rests in an attitude of balance and acceptance of things as they are.


—Sayadaw U Pandita, "A Perfect Balanc

Reveal Your True Self


Reveal Your True Self


Usually, it takes a few—or a number of—meditation sessions sitting with the agitated mind before the true self appears.

But with each session the fog lifts a bit more.


—Joan Duncan Oliver, "The Sound of Silence"

Seeing the Interconnectedness of All Beings


Seeing the Interconnectedness of All Beings


To see into the interconnectedness of all living things is to see how all

living things are part of a unified field that contains all, and at the same

time to see that this entire field is embodied by each being.


—Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, “The Need of the Hour”

Love Is The Water Of Life


Love Is The Water Of Life
_
2020
_

One of our dearest poets, a voice for the ages,

Rumi, wrote those words as the title of his poem,

“Love is the Water of Life.” It speaks to an agony

Of the spirit that is universal to all who advance

To meet death without seizing the Water of Life.
_

Today I want to tell you a little about the fears of

Rejection that are common to us all, as we yearn,

Within, to grasp the love that is the Water of Life.
_

Those fears of rejection are native to each of us,

For, after all, we are just simple organisms, short

Lived, and fearful of most change we can’t control.

And even when we think we can control changes,

It’s just a dearly held illusion, to assuage our fears.
_

And now, as we, in our multitudes try to shelter

Safely at home to escape a virus that lives in the

Very air we need to breathe, and hides, invisibly,

On the surfaces we’d never even think about, our

Chances to seize the Water of Life before we too

Sicken and possibly die, seem to be getting fewer.

As, in each new, lonely morning, we hear the stats

Of new infections, and the losses of many a one’s

Dear departed loved ones, multiplied yet again.
_

I’d like to offer what may seem less than it is,

A simple panacea for all of us who may never

Get to hold onto and quench our deepest thirsts

With the Water of Life. Love wears many guises,

Some are worn and torn through hard lessons of

Love ripped and then brutally rejected ; some are

Colourful but faded and soft like silk, signs of

Old loves tested again and again as being true;
_

And some are nearly diaphanous because they

Aren’t meant to be seen. Because, you see,

The wearers of such thin garments care little

For themselves but their hearts come near to

Bursting when they come upon the suffering

Of the weak and old, or those who do without;
_

So they try in the best ways they can, to offer

Kind words, money, warm food and clothes.

And when they see their neighbors sicken and

Then die, their hearts cry tears of compassion.
_

I’m pretty sure in my humble self, that Rumi,

The great master of loving poetic verse, himself,

Would agree that if we can’t have the Water of

Life in your own lives, at least not right now,

The least you and I can do is, to offer the best

Parts of ourselves, how ever we can, to those

Who desperately need The Water of Life now.
_


What Can Inspire Your Practice?


What Can Inspire Your Practice?


Experience is the seed of aspiration, the deeply rooted commitment to know.

That aspiration then drives one into the difficult and transformative realm of spiritual pursuit, into the realm of practice.


—Adam Frank, “In the Light of Truth”

Waking Up on Your Own


Waking Up on Your Own


The Buddhist prohibition against intoxicants isn’t about bad drugs versus good drugs.

It’s about learning to wake up on your own.


—Brad Warner, “The Enlightenment Pill”

Love Always Lies Between The Stars


Love Always Lies Between The Stars
_
2020
_


Dreams of love are like dreams of the stars.

Seemingly far, far away in galaxies we can

Only glimpse, yet ever present in the warmth

Of a lover’s gaze, or the laughter of a child.
_

Therein lies our greatest challenge. For now

We are entering an era where dreams of love

Must be set aside. Nothing less than heartfelt

Love can serve us now, or in uncertain futures.
_

A wise man once opined that the only thing

That ever endured, unchanged, was change itself.

We shouldn’t welcome such sudden uncertainty,

But neither should we allow it to diminish love.
_

I get a sense that in these scary times, when any

Of us could suddenly fall ill and die, a new sense

Of appreciation for human love and kindness will

Take root and grow everywhere there are people.
_

I hope I’ll live to see it and feel it, and I also

Hope you’ll stay well and live to experience

It. Imagine, a worldwide outpouring of love.

Imagine how energized the survivors will be.
_



Break the Cycle of Reaction


Break the Cycle of Reaction


When there is no attachment or identification with thoughts and feelings, there is no reactive push into action creating more doing, more karma. …

We get to the point where our acts are not done out of attachment but instead are just done as they’re done, and no new stuff is being created.


—Ram Dass, “Karmuppance”