In class last week I was reminded of a simple, beautiful teaching I learned when I first started practicing Buddhist meditation and that I’ve never forgotten.
It’s that a skillful aspiration is not to learn everything or to know everything but to remain open as the soil to the rain. If the soil is hardened, the rain runs right off. But if the soil is loose and friable, the rain can soak right in.
Six months later, I’m still thinking about something a sangha member said in class early one morning.
Another sangha member had invited people to offer healing suggestions relative to a particular problem she was struggling with. My contribution was to recommend Metta meditation, in which we offer lovingkindness to ourselves and others, and ultimately to all beings without reservation, which can be tremendously healing for all.
Why is forgiveness so hard? When it’s so important and so healing to forgive?
Our egos have our necks in their teeth, that’s why, making us SURE that we are right, that THEY are wrong, and that we must NEVER give up what is clearly our RIGHT to be RIGHT!
Huh?
One of my dearest friends, Tanmeet Sethi, has a book, Joy is My Justice, launching on May 2 from Hachette Go, a new imprint with a mission to give people the best information on how to change their lives for the better.
I’m so proud she’s in this select group of authors, and of course she is!
Would you name curiosity as an essential ingredient of the spiritual life? It surely is if you’re on the Buddhist path.
This time of year I CRAVE citrus! Especially oranges. That clean, bright, exhilarating color and flavor combine to make an utterly charming taste thrill.
My suggestion: don’t let this pass you by! Savor this perfect mindful eating experience each and every time. Be fully present to the delight! To the color, the shimmer, the scent, and to the way the light falls on the oranges. Splendid!
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