'The Bell Master'
If I want peace and love for all beings, I have to be conscious of peace and love for all beings.
I have to feel.
Through deep awareness and concentration, we can manifest the mindfulness we need to make the world a better place and resolve our conflicts.
This might sound unrealistic, but it is, actually, reality itself.
We are both dependent upon and made out of the natural world. It feels like a paradox but is, in fact, our natural essence - and that means that we are connected to every species and each other.
Separateness is an illusion. Every plant, mineral and animal is essentially made out of the same ingredients, and that includes us.
The sooner we are realize this, the safer we become.
If you want security you have to look within your own heart. You must allow empathy into your life. This takes courage. For many it is scary.
We don’t want to feel things that are painful and uncomfortable. Especially if it pertains to the needs of strangers.
What you must come to realize is there are no strangers.
You are always meeting yourself. Take care of your family.
We must find the strength to go beyond the world we have always accepted and wake up to the blessings of what already exists.
We live in a world of miracles and endless blessings - and we are fighting over breadcrumbs. This is not to discount the suffering of so many, it is a plea to end it with an awakening of the spirit that resides in our truest nature.
It is such a beautiful planet and we should learn how to protect it.
We restore cars but not nature. It makes no sense that we would not do all we can to save this world from our own misdeeds.
We know better now so we should act on that instinct, not backslide into industrialized greed and overconsumption.
Nature is inseparable from our very being. Speaking of the environment as if it is some abstract theory instead of our very essence is a fool’s game.
We need to wake up.
I will close with a verse recited by Thich Nhat Hanh to invite meditation practitioners back to their true home that I have often found useful,
‘Body, speech and mind in perfect oneness.
I send my heart along with the sound of this bell.
May the hearers awake from their forgetfulness.
And transcend the path of anxiety and sorrow.’
Wishing you a restorative and restful holiday.
Noel, I register your inner conflict about all of this. When I spent 10 years as a zen homesteader, my sensei explained the Buddha never meant for us to be doormats. We can register the deep emptiness and hatred stored within Trump, we can someday explore Epstein's psyche to figure out how he became a world-class monster. But that does not mean we "forgive and forget" what these monsters have done. That's what law is for, what society is for, what voting is for: casting human judgment upon our fellow humans, altho these 2 are only loosely joined with us other humans. I understand why Obama chose not to take the Bush administration to task for their lies about Iraq (I think he made a huge mistake, BTW). But this is not of the same level. This is existentially, profoundly worse. We can and should condemn and revile these two and their entire "support system." What is left to love? They have totally broken the social contract and caused unforeseen damage to all of us, including the planet.
Edit: The one thing we need to balance out is our internal hatred. It is so strong in so many of us, and that is what needs to be watched, monitored, expressed and not absorbed. As I stated, to emit our disgust and hatred through legal means permits us to vent our hatred and leave room within us for the love we need to express.
Thank you. Beautiful and nothing but the truth