Equanimity - Jack Kornfield

Even though we may cultivate a boundless compassion
for others, and strive to alleviate suffering in the world,
there will be many situations we are unable to affect.
The well known serenity prayer says, "May I have the
serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the
courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom
to know the difference."  Wisdom recognizes that all
beings act and receive the fruits of their actions.  We can
deeply love others and offer them assistance, but
in the end they must learn for themselves,
they must be the source of their own liberation.

Equanimity is the willingness to be in life, but to be
spacious and open, to have a vast perspective and be able
to say - "Yes, here I am, showing up, caring and loving,
but I'm not in control of this [situation].

Jack Kornfield
Buddhist Teacher

I learned several years ago that you cannot rescue
someone from their life...  I keep having to learn it...
Although it is hard to see someone go through what
they must go through until they learn to take responsibility
for their own lives and choices...

_/\_

Yoda's Wisdom In Death

In meditation this morning I was reflecting on Yodi’s death - given name Yoda – and how there doesn’t seem to be any lingering spirit presence here, no energetic imprint after his passing, which I had anticipated. It’s as if he’s *really gone!* I don’t know how to describe this other than to say it’s as if his spirit was totally taken back to Source. It’s not floating around in spirit world – he’s *gone.* There is no emotion about this, no sense of loss – a little surprise maybe because my “belief system” had conditioned me to believe that something *else* was supposed to happen here, and so there were expectations about what I might experience after his death.

Instead, Yoda’s death left this wonderful opportunity to *see* beyond the belief and expectation. And the following was the wisdom that spontaneously arose this morning. This surprised me as well. I didn’t expect what came – and no, it was not the cat talking to me :) – just a depth of insight that I hadn’t had before on this subject.

And so I invite you to suspend belief and pre-conditioned thought – and just hear the words that are offered. They were a gift to me and I pass the gift on to you…

We are just a mist, a vapor that appears and disappears,

like the aurora borealis – there and gone;

a moment in the sky,

then retract back into Space.

We are just a breath of Spirit,

the Breath of Life Itself,

inspired at birth,

expired in one long sigh at “death.”

We are just an energy that dances in the Wind –

for a time - and then gone. Gone, gone, gone beyond,

absorbed by the Primordial Womb of Stillness again.

Returned to Source.

Exhaled and inhaled by the Primordial Breath.

“We” go – Life Itself goes back to the Womb again,

the fluid energetic suspension that suspends all life

in its Embrace.

Energy to Energy

Spirit to Spirit

Breath to Breath

Fluidity to Fluidity

Life to Life

There *is* no “duality.”

It’s all One Life

lived and returned

to the other side of Life – not “death” –

as if never really gone.

Breathed out and breathed in.

One movement in suspended Eternity.

No life – No death

Just Be-ing…

"Life in death you be... hmmm?"

Yoda the Wise

Mystic Meandering
copyright Sept. 2009

SSS - Siamese Shadow

This is our elderly Siamese mix (18 1/2 - over 100 in people years) taking in the morning sun through the skylight above. His given name is Yoda, which has evolved into Yodi Bodhi - the enlightened cat - master of light and dark. He has taught us much wisdom about the shadow in our own lives, inviting us to see the shadow within the *context* of the light...

Wisdom in the shadow there is... hmmm?

Yodi Bodhi

For more shadow shots - and wordless wisdom - check out

Hey Harriet!

Heart Smiles - MeANderi

http://www.aserenitysanctuary.com/