The greater our ups and downs, the greater the value of Buddhist practice. Rather than a practice to avoid challenges or to avoid celebration, it is a practice that prepares us to meet them wisely and calmly. We can meet all our inner life with honesty and goodwill so we can be wise and skillful.
In all challenges, it is possible to find inner peace and freedom, equally open to grief and heartbreak as to joy and love.
We can never know what future will arise from our today. Being caught up in imagined futures limits future possibilities. Out of tragedy, a new love may be born. Every crisis is an opportunity for the heart to grow. Each conflict contains a to-be-discovered recipe for the greater good.
In this not-known future, you can make a difference. And you will probably never know all the differences you will contribute. A small act of kindness may be passed out into the world with no news bulletins for how it calms an angry person. A small act of unkindness may send out ripples of hostility until it reaches an angry person who then hurts someone else.
Let the world of the future begin with your next step, next words, and next response. Don’t assume this is someone else’s responsibility or that you have no role. The future depends on how you make that step, how you speak, and how you respond. When you offer respect, you will make a different future than with your disrespect. If you are friendly, others may be friendly. But if you are hostile, others may become hostile. When you demonstrate care for the welfare of others, they may care for you.
Let’s make a better world for everyone who faces prejudice, hostility, and disrespect. Let’s help everyone prosper with the necessities of life. Let’s build a society where everyone respects each other without demeaning anyone.
Gil Fronsdal
For a useful November 6 Dharmette, listen to Ines Freedman’s 15 minute Dhamrette, “Knowing and Not Knowing (3 of 5) here
A prayer for our times
Where there is love, let us stand side by side regardless of our differences.
Where there is hate, let us stand in hate’s way with love.
Where others offer care, we offer to help.
Where others neglect to care, we offer what we can.
Where there is respect, we offer friendship.
When there is no respect, we offer kindness.