In my last post I reported that upon waking most mornings, my mind is drawn towards a murky view of life, attracted by what it considers wrong and troublesome in me. As I explained, one way to work with such a predisposition is to greet it head on — gently and persistently. With the help of a skilled listener I was able to en-lighten that darkness and, by coaxing a fossilized trauma story into here-and-now awareness, unearth a hidden gem within my very being.
I’m delighted to report that the old story, for decades a frightening point of personal reference, has been utterly transformed. Not its surface narrative but my fundamental relationship to it. Each time I recall the story now, I’m filled with a whole-hearted sense of compassion towards all beings and their suffering, myself included.
As Pema Chödrön puts it so elegantly:
Our true nature is like a precious jewel,
although it may be temporarily buried in mud,
it remains completely brilliant and unaffected.
We simply have to uncover it.
Forever curious, I’ve since found another teacher’s guidance on starting a new day. The Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE) writes:
When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they can’t tell good from bad. But I have seen the beauty of the good and the ugliness of the bad, and I have realized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own—not of the same family and social class, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine. (“Meditations” II.1)
Welcoming (and not clinging to) my dark world view opens me to the many possibilities of the new day: life itself.
This one hit home. Thank you!
Loved today’s post. It resonated with me 100%. Thanks for your willingness to share your vulnerabilities.
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Rumi — 13th-century Persian poet, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic
Such a welcome post, thank you, Peter. Sure got me out of wallowing in dark areas of self pity and into the grace of being alive and sharing with fellow pilgrims. The peaks and lows are sometimes uncomfortably close. Blessings !
🙏❤️🕉☯️👁👍
True Bodhisattva practicing bodhicitta!
Pema Chodron also says “You are the sky. Everything else is just weather”.