Thursday, January 8, 2009

Many

Molly Brown, over at Destination the Journey, today broached something that is a strong component of my practice.

While you sit reading this, someone is giving birth, another is dying, another grieves the loss of a love one. Everything in the breadth and depth of daily human experience is happening right now.

As I move through my day, I do my best to bear this in mind, and honor all these beings and their experiences with my behavior. It doesn't always work, and I am constantly having to pull myself back to this thought, but I try to do my best.

When I begin to pity myself or my situation, I find remembering that many of my brothers and sisters are in far worse places returns me to center. I pray for peace and strength of heart for them, and then also for myself.

3 comments:

Gregor said...

Hey,

Thanks for sharing Molly's post very insightful.


- Greg

molly k said...

Not sure how I missed this. Yes, it is good to remember the breadth of the human experience and what is happening as we move along from moment to moment. It makes our reality seem much lighter (or it can).
With Peace,
Molly

The Buddhist Conservative said...

We can all take something from this. Western culture has a love affair with self pity. We forget the struggles of many of those around us since we are too focused on our own.

I have had the opportunity to work with people who are in times of crisis giving me a clear perspective of how bad things can be. Maintaining a positive prospective is not always easy but thoughts such as these have helped me greatly.

Your previous post expressing concern over blogging leading to "self-absorbed introspection" is only one side of the coin. It is true that blogs can feel a bit self centered but there is a message in your thoughts that can help others. Those reading your posts are responsible to take what they want and leave the rest.

Namaste