Tag: perspective

A Broken Shell, or New Life Beginning?

It’s a wonderful to be alive, now isn’t it? The trees have shifted to their autumn hue, as the squirrels race to complete their ‘tasking’ of day.

And in between it all, a softened lull – between the drops of rain, the paradigm forms: that which is taken, is always returned.

Albeit, sometimes in different form. Even our clinging, as desperate as it may seem, reveals a point of weakness. The shell spits, before it breaks. Though, is it crumbling or simply expanding?

In Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Suzuki Roshi tells the story of the four horses. One flees at the shadow of the whip. Another, before it ever touches skin. The third, only when it feels the sting. And the last, not until the whip cuts the bone. We believe circumstances to define our reality; though, isn’t it our reaction instead?

In our struggle to make sense, we look outward – not, in. Forgetting, that it’s what we choose to see that defines our world: a shattered shell, or a new life beginning.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

The Benefit of Our Humanity.

In the stress of our daily lives, we often forget our perspective; that need to understand this moment just as it is – with a context deserving of its essence.

What we feel and desire, though relatively important, are but a smaller part of a far more extensive ‘whole’. As we contemplate the rhetoric of world news feeds, we must take measures to protect the inherent vulnerability maintained within its depths – the will of all people and our preservation of humanity.

This simple practice enables us to engage the very heart of our spiritual teaching; to share, in service, without precondition. We do not seek to impress, rather we offer ourselves fully to whatever might happen next.

We don’t attack, and we certainly can’t predict. What we can do is share our presence and experience, to offer a pause in the space of reaction.

While ‘we can’t fix the world’, we can define our interaction with it – to protect and to respond to the very essence of all human need.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

This World as We See It.

“I’m having a bad day,” he said, looking forward through a half-frosted window. The morning was bitterly cold with the coming of winter, and his thoughts were as dark as the sky.

He explained to me his troubles at home; a dishwasher that ‘barely got the job done’ and kids with ‘far too much’ energy. He paused just long enough to sip his coffee – a venti caramel macchiato with just a hint of cinnamon against the edge

I watched his face as he prattled on – lamenting home, work and the traffic both ways. With every word he fell more deeply into ‘self’, creating a ‘reality’ of world absent that much bigger picture.

I watched his face as he stared blankly into the parking lot — missing completely the elderly homeless man now picking through last night’s trash bins.

Nietzsche once asked, “Why does man not see things?” — offering perhaps that it was man, himself, standing in his own way.

We see what we wish to see, arranging this world to suit our ‘vision’. Logically, we understand these aspects of cause and effect – though often fail to see our role within it.

The eyes see clearly, yet also deceive – influenced by the voices which haunt our past history.

“Do you see that man standing out there,” I asked, pointing to the parking area. “He’s here every single day. I’d once asked him the source of his smile – and do you know what he said?”

The young man lowered his eyes and he shook his head slowly.

“He said, ‘I’m alive, I have food and now – the blessing of your company.'”

We see this world as we wish to see it. To some, a paradise; to others, a prison.

And, to those – the truly awakened souls, every moment becomes a cherished blessing.

A little something to consider, my loves…

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

What We Do Today Matters Most of All.

“Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” – Buddha

My dears, quite often we can become trapped inside the sentiment of our yesterday’s emotions.

As caring human beings, we so desperately want to ‘fix’ things – going to great lengths to explain our position, to offer a secondary point of view…or, sadly to dig ourselves toe deep into the muck of ‘needing so very much to be right.’

Have we become so disenchanted with Opportunity’s blessing? That we fail to understand that much deeper meaning, which rests beneath those daily distractions?

My dears, when you look out your window this morning – what do you see?

Do you see the hope that is inspired by the limitlessness of this life?

Do you feel the faith that is born again within the fullness of each new leaf?

Are you inexplicably drawn to Creativity’s spirit – beckoning from the richness of nature’s palette?

Or, is your mind locked up inside all of those moments that have already passed? Caught up in the foolishness of our ‘not ever letting go?’

“Letting go,” shares Thích Nhất Hạnh “gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything – anger, anxiety, or possessions – we cannot be free.”

My dears, every morning we are born once again; and it becomes our choice, how we may fulfill our destiny.

Every wish, every thought…every hope-filled dream…becomes, the softened threads in the fabric of our awakening.

What we do today is what matters most of all.

And, what we see outside life’s fleeting ‘window’ – my darling, this is what determines our day.

The Little Boy Who Came to Visit Me Today.

I heard a little one tapping at my door this morning. Behind him, his angry father – all red faced and huffing.

“Tell her what you did,” he shouted, pointing to a nearly imperceptible dent on my car’s passenger door. ”

Looking downward, he sniffled in the longest of breaths, “I’m sorry,” he whimpered  “it was an accident.”

“Well, then,” I smiled, shifting down to one knee. “It’s a good thing it was ‘an accident’ and not an ‘on purpose.'”

And, taking his little hand into mine, we walked over to ‘assess the grave damage.’  “Now, tell me,” I asked “how can something so small be the source of so much sadness?”

Oh, but don’t we all have those moments? When something so seemingly inconsequential has suddenly pulled us in?

In an instant, we become hooked by our own knee-jerk reaction. We say things we don’t mean, and act in ways which do not serve our purpose. But, worst of all, in those split-second-never-take-back moments – we lose sight of that which matters most of all.

We forget the loving hearts which are waiting so patiently for our ‘arrival’ on the other end.

Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ll ever have my car door repaired. As I could think of no better reminder, to keep one’s heart focused on those much bigger things.

In fact, every time I look to this door, I’ll think of the little heart who came to visit me today.