The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered:
“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”
Over and over again I see – in myself and in others – the capacity to turn things that do not actually exist – possible events in the future – into real, vivid, scenarios and tangible fears in the present. A huge amount of our anxiety comes from what is not, what “may happen”. The big challenge is to stay with what actually is, not what the mind convinces us could possibly be. Here, two quotations, from completely different traditions, encourage us in this regard today.
Every particle of creation sings its own song of what is and what is not. Hearing what is can make you wise. Hearing what is not can drive you mad.
Ghalib, Sufi Poet and mystic, 1797 – 1869
The big thing for me is to love reality and not live in the imagination, not live in what could have been or what should have been or what can be, and somewhere, to love reality and then discover that God is present.
Jean Vanier, Founder of the L’Arche Communities
Your identity is not equivalent to your biography
John O Donohue, The Inner Landscape of Beauty
The big thing in my own experience is that the bravery is to not just go with an habitual pattern because it’s usually fear-based. Instead, stay present and open so you can connect with your underlying strength, which is called basic goodness. The seductiveness of habitual patterns is a false security, but we wouldn’t follow it if we didn’t think it was going to bring us some comfort or relief. Still, habitual patterns just keep us stuck in the same rut, so the courage is to actually realize you have a choice and choose to do the tougher thing.
Pema Chodron
Never forget:
We are alive within mysteries.
Wendell Berry, Life Is A Miracle : An Essay Against Modern Superstition
Abba Poemen said Abba Pior
made a fresh start every morning.
Sayings of the Desert Fathers
Each Morning we are born again.
What we do today is what matters most
Jack Kornfield
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