In my recent morning readings I came across these words from Pema Chödrön, an American Buddhist nun widely known for her insightful, down-to-earth interpretation of Tibetan Buddhism for Western audiences. I was so touched by the sentiment, both personally and globally, that I wrote the publisher asking permission to share this with you and they graciously granted that request. I hope to see you on Sunday as we focus on Mindful Compassion.
It's daring not to shut anyone out of our hearts, not to make anyone an enemy. If we begin to live like this, we'll find that we actually can't define someone as completely right or completely wrong anymore. Life is more slippery and playful than that. Trying to find absolute rights and wrongs is a trick we play on ourselves to feel secure and comfortable.
Compassionate action, being there for others, being able to act and speak in a way that communicates, begins with noticing when we start to make ourselves right or make ourselves wrong. At that particular point, we could just contemplate the fact that there is an alternative to either of those, which is bodhichitta. This tender shaky place, if we can touch it, will help us train in opening further to whatever we feel, to open further rather than shut down more. We'll find that as we begin to commit ourselves to the practice of tonglen, as we begin to celebrate aspects of ourselves that we found so impossible before, something will shift permanently in us. Our ancient habitual patterns will begin to soften, and we'll begin to see the faces and hear the words of people who are talking to us. As we learn to have compassion for ourselves, the circle of compassion - what and whom we can work with, and how - expands.
GLOSSARY
Bodhichitta (Sanskrit) The awakened heart of loving-kindness and compassion. Absolute bodhichitta is our natural state, experienced as the basic goodness that links us to every other living being. It has been defined as openness, ultimate truth, our true nature, soft spot, tender heart, or simply what is. Relative bodhichitta is the courage to realize this tinder openhearted quality by tapping into our capacity to love and care for others.
Tonglen (Tibetan) "Sending and receiving." Also described as exchanging cell for other. In the practice of tonglen, we breathe then whatever feels bad and send out whatever feels good.
From Comfortable with Uncertainty by Pema Chödrön © 2002 by Pema Chödrön and Emily Hilburn Sell. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boston, MA. www.shambhala.com
In joy,
Zet
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