felt moved this evening by the great mystery of this place, this life. had the sudden urgency to paint my own rendition of the famous Zen art of the circle, triangle and square. the original art is by the Japanese Zen Master, Sengai Gibon from the Edo period. the piece was not titled by Sengai, but has often been titled by others as Maru-Sankaku-Shikaku, or in English as The Universe.
i saw this quote yesterday on Twitter and it resonates.
such a beautiful way to honor loved ones who have passed on.
also a deeply meaningful way to live and love one’s own life and reflect on our own legacy of words and actions and how they too may live on in others when we have passed.
I don’t believe that this is a call to complacency. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t work to be done or that we shouldn’t do it.
We should bring our attention to life in this moment. And in this moment where we see harm, we can work to bring healing.
This quote reminds us that we also don’t have to be overwhelmed. In this work and in this moment we can remember that there’s always change. There are seasons and cycles in this life.
That’s a very hopeful message, because that means there’s opportunity for healing, opportunity for love, opportunity to bring benefit. And this can give us peace.
Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment.
This includes every mosquito, every misfortune, every red light, every traffic jam, every obnoxious supervisor (or employee), every illness, every loss, every moment of joy or depression, every addiction, every piece of garbage, every breath.
Every moment is the guru.
~
Charlotte Joko Beck
when we allow our mind to settle and our heart to open, all of life and every moment, and every little and big thing becomes our teacher. meditation practice helps us to allow such spaciousness to arise.
…and in the words of Yoda – “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
are you aware that “Fear not!” is the most repeated command/phrase in the Bible? and then there’s one of my favorite sections in 1 John where it is said (and i paraphrase) that God is love and that there is no fear in love.
when we live in fear, there is a tightening that occurs, a narrowing of thought and vision. possibility diminishes and life is oppressed. fear in a very real way, brings death.
the answer to fear is love and love in action is compassion. in Buddhism, we practice loving-kindness and compassion as a way to address our fear and the fears of others. a closed heart and mind can become reactive, paranoid, and aggressive. an open heart and spacious mind are expansive and generous, allowing for possibility and life. so, we practice with our heart and we practice with our mind.
it is incredible and inspiring how far things have come. when i was in high school there was not a single LGBTQ+ person out of the closet. we had no gay-straight alliances in school and no positive images in media.
i felt alone, save for the feeling that two of my drama classmates just might be going through the same thing. it wasn’t until college that i connected with a group of friends and the space to allow, to expose my authenticity.
things are quite different now, things are better, a lot better for many of us….but not all. it’s important to realize there are still people who don’t recognize our humanity, our right to exist and love.
and there are many, so many, too many young LGBTQ+ persons who live in an environment of fear, or within a home without love, who worship within a claustrophobic religion, or find they are in a workplace that is hostile. they feel alone and unsafe.
to these persons in our community, young and aged, i say:
