the snare of gratitude

 

there have been o so many people in my life 

who have been kind, generous, 

willing to come to my aid on my way to ..

wherever..

here, now..

'tis a practice of mr. rogers, isn't it..

to take ....  what? 5 minutes 

to recall a face, an action

holding them with your inner vision..

your heart/mind ~

to recollect the kindness that slid you 

to the next move on your chessboard of life.

after watching the queen's gambit..

(i think i qualify as a binger of the series..)

i was touched by the many who uplifted 

the young protaganist along her way..

magnanimously.. 

(from the latin.. magnus animus - great soul)

afterwards, i sat for a time reminiscing

the faces, the places, the benevolence

showered upon me throughout my life..

what a worthy practice !

most thanksgivings i share this poem by rumi..

and here we go again:

giving thanks for abundance 

is sweeter than the abundance itself:

thankfulness is the soul of beneficence,

abundance is but the husk,

for thankfulness brings you

to the place where the Beloved lives.

abundance yields heedlessness;

thankfulness, alertness:

hunt for bounty with the snare of gratitude...

                               thankfulness, alertness

                                     translated by kabir helminski

                                         edited a wee bit by djl

sitting quietly with the countless souls

who have traversed this splendid life

with me, 

who guided me, 

led the way, 

paved my streets with gold, 

held me back, 

pushed me onward..

~ nothing to do 

but bow my head 

~ tasting the saltysweet 

honeyed tears 

of thankfulness..

 

....should one who is absorbed with the 

Generous One

be distracted by the gift?

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

timely rain

 

from chögyam trungpa ~

in the jungles of flaming ego,

may there be a cool iceberg of bodhicitta.

on the racetrack of bureaucracy,

may there be the walk of the elephant.

may the sumptuous castle of arrogance

be destroyed by vajra confidence.

in the garden of gentle sanity,

may you be bombarded by coconuts of wakefulness.

it's very wet..squally..sopping..

the hummingbirds are gathering in droves 

for the sweet ambrosia i concoct..

one such bird is holding hostage

a feeder all to him/herself..

the others are joined two by twos 

to  snuggle up and share the nectar ..

as many as a dozen to a feeder..

community..not two..generosity..

as i stir each batch of sugar water

i chant the heart sutra mantra..

or the gayatri or om mani padme hum..

it seems i have a non-bodhisattva in the tribe !

it is said that generosity is the gateway to the bodhisattva path..

(no wonder the second phrase above the gateway to the

temple at delphi was: nothing in excess)

the giving practice is the practice of letting go..

letting go of narrow views, of concepts of small, tight and lack..

letting go of ownership, close-fistedness, insufficiency  ~

i must stir up my next quantity of nektar with "enough" mindfulness..

(recalling a bumper sticker - if you had enough would you recognize it)

a friend shared that she had offered some money to a  homeless fellow 

outside a coffee shoppe..and he said.. o, no thank you, i really have enough..

as i cultivate generosity in my own nature, all else follows generously..

i experience this as so!

next time i will whisk in the circle of offering ~ ampleness and plenty ~

then the dear renegade hummer will feel contentment..

igniting the wake-up mind of his/her own wide wingspan to gifting..

nurturing billions of brother and sister hummingbirds

with the syrup of bounteousness!

HA! MAY IT BE JUST SO!

 

from *81 - daode jing 

......  the sage avoids accumulation--

the more (s)he works for others, the more (s)he has;

the more (s)he gives to others, the more (s)he gains.

the way of the heavens is to benefit, not to injure.

the way of the sages is to act, not to compete.

                      ~ translated by louis komjathy

not two..

 

JFK's planned speech for austin, texas  ~ 

evening of november 22  ~ 1969

... this country is moving and it must not stop. it cannot stop. 

this is a time for courage and a time for challenge.

neither conformity nor complacency will do.

neither the fanatics nor the faint-hearted are needed. 

our duty as a party is not to our party alone, 

but to the nation, and, indeed, to all humankind.

our duty is not merely the preservation of political power 

but the preservation of peace and freedom.

so let us not be petty when our cause is so great.

let us not quarrel amongst ourselves when our nation's

future is at stake.  let us stand together with renewed 

confidence in our cause....

determined that this land we love shall lead all humankind 

into new frontiers of peace and abundance.

PLEASE VOTE!

david spangler

if we fear each other, it may be because in some way, 

we fear ourselves. let's change that.

let's trust our goodness

and help others do the same.

there is no reason the winner of our election 

in this country has to be fear and anger.

we can decide otherwise.

whoever holds the office of presidency

the offices of senator or representative,

we hold the country.

we hold the country in our hearts, in our choices,

in our actions, and in our behavior towards one another.

in the days and months ahead, 

let's ensure that the winner is the best in us.

PLEASE VOTE!

you (bodhisattva) and wisdom (prajña)

are essentially the same,

like pearls rolling on a tray,

light, random, uninhibited .

                        ~ hakuin zenji

in this not two nothing is separate,

nothing is excluded.

                   ~ hsin shin ming

i confess..there was a time when i didn't vote..

it was after nixon won a second round...

by a landslide..1972...

george mcgovern, my vote..

gone, gone, gone....

it was years before i got my head and heart on straight ..

the vote, our vote, my vote..is one of the most effective

ways to wrestle with the snake of politics..

if i seem to take part in politics, 

it is only because politics encircles us today

like the coil of a snake from which one cannot get out,

no matter how much one tries.

i wish therefore to wrestle with the snake..

                 ~ mahatma gandhi