Tag: love

Testing the Tolerance of Heart.

I was watching the news on television this morning. A young man out walking his pup was attacked by another passerby. “I didn’t like the way he looked,” the assailant later confided. “Up to no good, I’m telling ya,” he said.

The victim was later identified a community leader and advocate for disadvantaged youth. His days were comprised of much smaller actions yielding a far greater good. In the past week alone, he had offered uniforms and lunches for those children whose parents were unable to provide.

And, not for the glory – my goodness, no. Rather, more simply, because it was the right thing to do. But now he lay, clinging to life. Why?

Because, “I didn’t like the way he looked…”

In our teachings, we focus on the essence of love and its transformative spirit. Though, how often do we exercise the energy of tolerance? “I’m a Buddhist until I get behind the wheel of a car,” a friend of mine once said. And, he was right – my ‘burning ears’ will surely bear testimony.

The truth is, every moment is a test of our tolerance. Our emotions, our fears, our past experiences – each defining our interaction within this space. We may say or act a certain way, sometimes not truly reflective of our beliefs or spirit. Emotions trigger reaction, while tolerance coaxes heart.

Though there may be vast differences between us all, still we strive for a shared understanding; a unity beyond race, culture, class and virtue.

“If we cannot end now our differences,” President John F. Kennedy once shared. “at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”

Perhaps then, our practice should include a testing of heart? That we may learn to engage tolerance even in these more trying of times.

In peace, my loves…

Namaste ❤️

A Love Undeterred.

“When I understand myself, I understand you,” Jiddu Krishnamurti once wrote. “and out of that understanding comes love.”

There is an aspect of self, which may feel undeserving. And, we may struggle within its pathlessness; determined to find our way against an ever-evolving course.

Though likewise, there is a simplicity; a resilience which serves to transform our growth. So long as we remain open to it, willing to accept an often unyielding truth.

Inherently, we understand our paradigm: that suffering leads to liberation. Yet still, we are hesitant to ‘suffer through it’. We fear what we feel we can not have.

Even though our life path is clear; we are born, we are broken…we rise up, we preserve. Still, there is this gnawing sense. Perhaps, it is this ‘undeserving self’ which hampers our journey?

Though, in holding on we soon discover a love that is undeterred.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

What Makes Us Human?

What makes us human, my loves? Is it the passion which lights these trails of empathy, or the strength of will within?

Is it the resolve which compels our purpose, or the readiness to take action?

We find ourselves often at these crossroads of consciousness and realization. The path we choose defining our way, but more so contributing courage. To that which remains at times unseen, slipping from humanity’s view.

We are but one, the collective ‘we’ – and, none without the means to infuse the energy of righteousness and kindness, my loves. It is both the grace and amplitude of our being.

What makes us human, my dearest loves?

It is the inescapable draw of our connection.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

This Selflessness of Spirit.

Growing up, my mother always kept an extra place setting open at the table. “In case someone stops by,” she’d smile.

Through her actions, my mother encouraged the selfless grace of compassion, and a sharing of heart with all human souls. To this day, I strive to reflect her generosity and warmth of spirit. I pray that I may create a space for all to feel ‘at home’. Our community is just one of her many manifestations of light.

The Buddha’s teachings embodied the principles of mutuality, tolerance and acceptance; our shedding of ‘self’ serving as a means to that end.

As the finer threads of our veiled illusion shifts, we begin to see ourselves in a different life. Not as ‘one’, but ‘belonging to’ something much greater than the eye may discern.

Humanity is served by these fundamental values; of peace, of tolerance and respect for all. Irrespective of our political ties, and separate from the chapels of resignation.

We are one human family, after all.

Today, I pray we may honor this energy of compassion – utilizing our deepest heart in the furtherance of all.

In peace, my loves…

Namaste ❤️

The Voice of One.

I remember when I was a little girl in grade school. At the beginning of each day the teacher would ask us to stand with hand over heart for the reading of the Pledge.

Occasionally she would speak to the men who died in support of our innate human rights. That we have a right to be free and to choose; that all were bound in a space of equal human value.

It was a volatile time, post Cold War and marking the beginning of a global economic crisis. In some cases triggering an energy of intolerance.

In the years to follow, newsfeeds would flood with the images of gross injustice – people starving, cities on fire, young men and women dying just outside hospital windows. Politicians blamed those they felt most ‘at fault’ ~ though, the true failure was that of moral responsibility.

I’m discouraged in the wake of today’s US news. Hasn’t experience served a better mirror? Have we learned nothing within this course of suffering?

Indeed, we have…

And as I watch the crowds gathering along these Capitol steps – I am reminded; .m

It is the voice of one which often carries us through.

For the voice of one can lend clarity to vision, uniting the thoughts of many into a shared human experience.

Beyond Mahatma Ghandi, Mother Teresa and His Holiness, the Dalai Lama – there were the Bob Geldoff, Frank Ostaseski and Maya Angelous of this world. Real humans compelled with one resounding purpose, raising the energy of hope to serve the needs of all.

Though, the car ride home from DC will be a somber experience – I am not without hope knowing there is always a voice of one.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

This Path to Freedom.

“We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny,” the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once shared. “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. We are made to live together because of the interrelated structure of reality.”

The year was 1967, Christmas Eve to be exact. Standing before the congregation at the Ebenezer Baptist Church – he had only one thought committed to mind:

“Peace on Earth, Good Will toward Men.”

He was an advocate for social change, one which escalated the voice of one into thoughts of many. He challenged Americans to extend their ‘view’, to see beyond the confines of ‘self’.

“Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation;” he said, “and this means we must develop a world perspective. No individual can live alone…”

Next week begins with a celebration of his life’s journey, a day of observation marked sadly with a hint of irony. Protestors are already beginning to line the inaugural parade route, while demonstrations are planned from a focal point of fear.

As a result, battle lines are being drawn – as most find themselves in a space of taking sides. Though, what gain does partisanship further? And, what is the impact to peaceful coexistence?

At the center point of our pain, there is a ‘need’ to be heard ~ to have mutuality embrace those much deeper wounds. It is the basis of our mindfulness practice; to approach this world with a truly open heart.

We all want the same things. We want happiness, peace and acceptance. We want to love and be loved in return. Though we may share a common goal, our paths to attain are invariably different.

Not better…

Not worse…

Just, different.

“I’ve seen too much hate to want hate myself,” he said. “I still have a dream that with this faith we will be able to adjourn the councils of despair…”

As with all things, we must engage a wider-world view; looking first to heart, for that which is needed most of all:

Peace on Earth and Good Will to all men.

Only then, may we be truly free.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

A Measure of Divine.

I forget it was who said, “God lies beyond the province of scientific thought.” Meaning, all that we know and experience as ‘divine’ is, without exception, incapable of measure.

Thus, lending insight to the theory of boundlessness within; and our capacity to break through these boundaries of self.

We are mixing of matter and light; stardust and ‘magic’ and a love that shines bright. Elusive to even the most critical of ‘eye’.

It is the movement of within which abundance is carried; enabling us to live outside these confines of ego.

Science may have no words, and perhaps that’s best? For the mastery of love should be cherished, not measured.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

Through This Process of Doing.

My darlings, this morning I’m feeling a particularly deepened sense of gratitude ~ one born from the energy shared so freely here.

For, just as the sun waits patiently to greet – I know, your presence will be with me each day.

Such a blessing, don’t you think? To have the honor of serving a light which has become so precious to me.

And, with each day – new messages, from all aspects of ‘world’… all penned lovingly with the ink of unconditionality. With every action, we build; with each new intention, we grow. All beginning from ‘one post’ which soon became a community. Our blessings are counted through this process of doing.

For this, I am ever grateful.

Because of you, my heart has found its resting place.

Because of you, I shall always know this peace.

Bowing humbly, my darlings…

Namaste ❤️

For This, We Pray.

My darlings, today a simple phrase – a reminder of what matters most of all. From poet William Wordsworth:

“The best portion of a good man’s life: his little, nameless unremembered acts of kindness and love.”

Today, I pray…

That we may each infuse kindness throughout every single deed; that love may prove worthier than the stories we keep.

That the legacy of bold may serve as balm to the weak, as empathy soothes the heart of the embittered.

Let indifference find no respite here; rather, tolerance, acceptance, equanimity and peace.

“Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be…”

My darlings, I pray that love may be our every hour.

In peace…

Namaste <3

The Beauty in All Things.

“It is love alone that leads to right action,” writes Jiddu Krishnamurti. “What brings order to the world is to love and to let love do what it will.”

Though, we may recognize love as ‘the answer’; the ‘antidote’ to our social ills. How often do we allow it to run its true course, to effect the greater need of day?

Love transpires not without purpose; it bends, it twists, it finds its way. All for the benefit of healing past wounds – to cast light within this frame of being.

To remind us that the divine within is stronger than all else.

We see love and we appreciate its presence, though – do we truly allow its energy to flow? Unimpeded, like water over stone.

“To transform the world,” he writes. “we must begin with ourselves.” To that end, we must strive to remove all barriers to love, in order to see the beauty in all things.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️