"Transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi."
Lojong phrase
Even if:
all holiday plans are abandoned, argued, bantered, shouted down, re-enforced, demolished, demanded, controlled, played-out, played-with, encoded, inflated, deflated, destroyed, restored, polished, tarnished, coughed up, smoothed over and obliterated.
Even if:
there are favorites; there are sides; there are politics and bad weather; food is over-priced; over-stuffed; over-sauced; over-cooked; under-appreciated; left-over; left-out; left-behind.
Even if:
dishes are unwrapped; taken down; taken out; washed and re-washed; polished; put back; set out;
singled out; separated; unmatched; missing- in- action; taken home to the wrong abode; brought back from the wrong abode; cracked or broken; replaced; remembered; resented: re-defined.
Even if:
there is little to be said of anything deep; there is little discussion beyond illness and the need for discipline in a child's childhood; little conversation about ISIS or drought in the West or Passover or more snow predicted or climatic conclusions or the lack of a single dyed Easter egg.
Even if:
there is chaos and confusion and hurt and long-held pain; demented uncles and elderly parents still controlling what they can; or guilt served with the honey-glazed ham and sweet potatoes.
Even if:
there is harm done.
Suffering is the first teaching of the new Buddha. (First thing he said to folks after the Bodhi tree.)
Suffering is human existence. We hurt each other. We are hurt. Close as we can get to each other, we cause pain. Know its truth. Know how to see this. Without adornment or blame. Acceptance of all sides. Causer and recipient. Doer and the done.
Understanding: I am both in pain and causer of pain allows me to change this pain. Transform it. Breathe it in and let it go. See the dance coming and don't step aside. Waltz through it. Embrace it. Forgive it and myself and finish the dance. Learn a new step in the dance. Get to the other side.
No interruptions. (Even if...)
It is all information to aid us in awakening.
Instead of blaming: understanding. Because we, also, have been in that chaotic place, (that fear den), so many times.
Lojong phrase
Even if:
all holiday plans are abandoned, argued, bantered, shouted down, re-enforced, demolished, demanded, controlled, played-out, played-with, encoded, inflated, deflated, destroyed, restored, polished, tarnished, coughed up, smoothed over and obliterated.
Even if:
there are favorites; there are sides; there are politics and bad weather; food is over-priced; over-stuffed; over-sauced; over-cooked; under-appreciated; left-over; left-out; left-behind.
Even if:
dishes are unwrapped; taken down; taken out; washed and re-washed; polished; put back; set out;
singled out; separated; unmatched; missing- in- action; taken home to the wrong abode; brought back from the wrong abode; cracked or broken; replaced; remembered; resented: re-defined.
Even if:
there is little to be said of anything deep; there is little discussion beyond illness and the need for discipline in a child's childhood; little conversation about ISIS or drought in the West or Passover or more snow predicted or climatic conclusions or the lack of a single dyed Easter egg.
Even if:
there is chaos and confusion and hurt and long-held pain; demented uncles and elderly parents still controlling what they can; or guilt served with the honey-glazed ham and sweet potatoes.
Even if:
there is harm done.
Suffering is the first teaching of the new Buddha. (First thing he said to folks after the Bodhi tree.)
Suffering is human existence. We hurt each other. We are hurt. Close as we can get to each other, we cause pain. Know its truth. Know how to see this. Without adornment or blame. Acceptance of all sides. Causer and recipient. Doer and the done.
Understanding: I am both in pain and causer of pain allows me to change this pain. Transform it. Breathe it in and let it go. See the dance coming and don't step aside. Waltz through it. Embrace it. Forgive it and myself and finish the dance. Learn a new step in the dance. Get to the other side.
No interruptions. (Even if...)
It is all information to aid us in awakening.
Instead of blaming: understanding. Because we, also, have been in that chaotic place, (that fear den), so many times.
