Many people are alive but don’t touch the miracle of being alive.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Let us fill our hearts with our own compassion – towards ourselves and towards all living beings.
Thich Nhat Hanh
A Father’s Guide to Wisdom
We all live, but do we truly Live. What does it mean to be alive, truly to live? Thus the paradoxes of life create a split, a chasm if you will, that to mend, we must first traverse the mountain present, come to personal meaning, and dig out the burning ember of the lesson present in the ash heap of the soul’s longing. What a wonderful journey this thing called life gives each of us, as we learn to traverse its oftentimes rocky, yet beautiful course.
To live is to come into contact with diversity. Not all things are the same, for if they were, life would get pretty boring. Imagine, eating your favorite meal, the cacophony of flavors filling the air, creating the aromatic sensations that take you deep into that longing state. Just imagine it for one moment. Smell the aroma. Feel the longing sensations that pull you towards this memory. You probably even tasted it, didn’t you? This is the power that the mind and our memories have over our day to day lives and the decisions we make.
But then imagine this was the only thing you could eat for the rest of your life… How long would it take for you to get bored, to dread its pleasurable existence? It wouldn’t take long, in fact, a few days into it, you would already be striving, yearning to create something new out of the sheer boredom you would face in partaking of yet another meal of the same thing, again, and again, and again.
Powerful exercise in the need for diversity, isn’t it? But in tasting its fruits, mindfulness must be present, for in each fruit we taste, some we may and others we may not like. It is in this experimental space that we create the journey of life unfolded.
In today’s inspiration, I draw from the Buddhist philosopher and Monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He teaches us that peace is just one degree away from having its beauty seen by the world. Through compassion, and mindful dialogue, let us move beyond the division of mind, media, and the split nature of love and disdain it creates. If we can foster inner compassion to mend those deep and soulful hurts present, the world will quake in its wake.
With love, blessings, and many prayers my friends. Believe… Achieve… Advance Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams!
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