Contemplate the kindness of others in your life, the Buddhist monk said to the fifteen of us.
One evening a week he drives over from a centre in Birmingham to conduct a teaching and meditation session in the local Quaker meeting house. The previous week, my first, he talked about making a decision to change the mind. Tonight, dauntingly, it was the need to cherish all living beings.
It doesn’t matter if the intention of the grumpy shop assistant was not one of kindness, you have benefited from the fact that she put the tin of baked beans on the shelf and accepted your money in exchange. From birth to death your life is upheld by the good deeds of others. You are a tiny cell in the body of creation, distinct yet united with the rest of life, so what you do can create benefit for others as you yourself have been supported.
Indeed, you can thank those people who require you to develop patience and tolerance and forgiveness. They are helping you to develop spiritually.
And you will sooner or later become enlightened.
I think about wounds inflicted and received, about Iraq and Darfur, about cruelty to children and animals and feel a pang of fear in my chest as the mind contracts and rebels. Can the practice of such concepts really, really, hold and redeem all the wickedness and misunderstanding abroad in the world? But something peaceful in the heart, in our teacher's gentleness and humour and in the quality of the meditative silence won't let me go. I pull back into the quiet. I am willing for now to take it on trust.
The homework was to reflect on the kindness of others in our daily lives. A couple of helpers came in with trays of peppermint tea and chocolate cake, and we tentatively started to talk among ourselves.
I will go back.
4 comments:
Thanks for this. These remind me of some thoughts I had during my recent experience — what can I learn from this, how can I see this as benefitting me, what (even unintentional) kindness is this person providing me, let alone what kindness I could provide... My mind does rebel in many ways, and yet there is something worthwhile in that line of thinking. I love that photo, it's got a marvelous angle.
I too thank you. This has been in my mind for several weeks now. having had a few minor ( very minor) events occur...I have to take a step back and thank others for being kind.
MB, thank you. This is an ongoing issue for me too, particularly recently.
HHB: Lovely to see you here. Thank you for this comment and the one below.
I expect that cherishing all living beings is a lifetime work...as is appreciation and gratitude. It would be nice, though, to have a place to go where they remind you to try...
Post a Comment