The Buddha recommended that every person should remember every single day that we are not here forever. It is a guest performance, which can be finished any time. We don't know when; we have no idea. We always think that we may have seventy-five or eighty years, but who knows?
If we remember our vulnerability every single day, our lives will be imbued with the understanding that each moment counts and we will not be so concerned with the future. Now is the time to grow on the spiritual path. If we remember that, we will also have a different relationship to the people around us. They too can die at any moment, and we certainly wouldn't like that to happen at a time when we are not loving towards them.
When we remember that, our practice connects to this moment... We need to act now. We can only watch this one breath, not the next one.
~ Ayya Khema, When the Iron Eagle Flies
3 comments:
This point of view has been so important to me the last few years. Chris's sudden departure has brought it back full force.
And remembering others keeps them here with us too. It still amounts to a short time in the scheme of things. What exactly was and is it about Buddha that the memory of Buddha still lingers and lives within us? I think that is a great lesson for me to emulate. Thanks for reminding me.
at a time when we are not loving towards them. . . . i am SO not loving toward so many people. people i don't even know. i'm full of hate. it wasn't always this way. i blame bush and company. but it's my soul sickness. i hate it too. i need a buddha. i need to snap out of this. i'm putting this on my screen where i'll see it again. else the hate in my head and my heart will just blast it out of my memory. :(
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