One of the most learned and highly trained American-born lamas in the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition. He is a meditation teacher and author.
So much to face lately, or is it always that way? I thought the old adage was that as you age, you worry less- so they lied, huh? Is this what my late mother called “The illusory promise of the Golden Years and Happy Hereafter?”
I recently saw an entire article dedicated to helping us sort through, and deal with all of this worry, anxiety, and uncertainty. While there were many sane rebuttals and remedies, what I realized, as a seeker and questioner myself– is that what I’ve come to truly trust is my own common sense, inner discernment, and bullshit detector too—educating myself on the big matters, considering origins and implications, others’ perspectives, and then making strong insightful choices, and letting the smaller matters simply be.
You’ve often heard me say, “Gratitude is my favorite prayer.” In this age of near-daily mass shootings, Twitter wars, pissing contests, contested facts, and all too common-place authoritarian autocratic craven attitudes, it’s very hard to “rise above” and find much outside to be grateful for, beyond our personal lives, family, friends and achievements —yet there always have been, and always will be those small pockets of thankfulness hidden somewhere even amidst our worn out suits of anachronistic armor. Disarm the heart, open the moat, lower the drawbridge over the distance between oneself and the rest of the world.
Even at its worst, many in our world have found the grace and acumen to forge forward, seeking and finding gratitude and patient forbearance to help guide them while holding the Wise Elder space of attuning to the long view and the bigger picture. Think globally while acting locally, as I always say, beginning with one’s own garden and neighbors.
In the wise words of my late friend and mentor, Father Thomas Keating, who passed on last week, “Little by little we are able to hear the still small voice in the hurricane, the earthquake, or the fire. God is hidden in difficulties. If we can find him there, we will never lose him. Without difficulties, we do not know the power of God’s mercy and the incredible destiny he has for each of us. We must be patient with our failures. There is always another opportunity unless we just go ashore and stay there.”
Let’s focus on staying afloat, together– fortifying your inner heart-center and grounded in your body and local base, with loving kindness and mindful words, prayers and actions.
With love and blessings,
Lama Surya Das