Birthdays...

The Swan
This laboring through what is still undone,
as though, legs bound, we hobbled along the way,
is like the awkward walking of the swan.

And dying-to let go, no longer feel
the solid ground we stand on every day-
is like anxious letting himself fall

into waters, which receive him gently
and which, as though with reverence and joy,
draw back past him in streams on either side;
while, infinitely silent and aware,
in his full majesty and ever more
indifferent, he condescends to glide.
                                                Rainer Maria Rilke

This year as I celebrate my birthday I am grateful to have discovered the ability to let go. Although I so often feel I am hobbling along, I also know the majesty of letting go into the stream of life.

Rilke, with a magnificent gift of words, describes the swan in a way I can so easily picture myself. I look forward to this next year with joy and reverence, with awe and wonder, with contentment and compassion.

What Will Matter

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won’t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.

It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.

What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident. It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.                                        ~Michael Josephson

Not to be morbid, but I have been thinking about death lately. I'm not sick, depressed, or obsessive; it's more curiosity. I mean you come to a point in your life when mortality is very real. So much different than contemplating death in your 20's or even 30's. Oh, I've always been aware that life will end; it's unavoidable. But lately, it's more this feeling that every moment counts; that living in integrity with compassion and courage is supremely important.

Living a life that matters is really an inside job. It's about what's going on within me and how my light shines out to everything and everyone I touch. I do believe we choose the life we live and that the choices keep coming in each moment. Not every moment is fun or pleasant, but the way we choose to accept it is indicative of who we are and how we shine.

Listening is an Art

Listening itself is quite an art. Most of us never really listen, therefore we hear only partially. We hear the words that are spoken, but our minds are elsewhere; or our minds respond only to the meaning of the words, and this immediate response prevents us from hearing that which lies beyond the words.

So listening is an art; but if you can listen totally to what is being said, then in that very listening you will find there is a liberation, because such listening is unpremeditated, uncalculated; it is an action of truth because your whole mind is there, your total attention is being given.

If you listen without interpreting, without remembering a quotation from some old book, or comparing all this with what you have read, then you will find that your own mind has undergone a really radical change.          
                                                                                     ~ J. Krishnamurti

I have always been intrigued with the skill of listening. From an early age, I was told I was a good listener. I didn't know any different. I just like to listen to what was being said. There was a point in high school where I could repeat verbatim conversations I had experienced. My sister used to quiz me, thinking it was unfathomable for me to remember every word.

I have lost that skill, after years of wanting to say and do the right thing. It is true that we often spend the time someone is speaking trying to form our own response. We all want to say the right thing ~ something intelligent or compassionate or perhaps we just want to argue our point of view.

In any case, radical change is waiting for us if we can but listen, truly and completely with our whole being. The art of listening will bring to us that which lies beyond the words.

Only an Instrument...

"The time left in this body is to be used helping all others on the planet
and in all realms. Remain Being and help everyone. This is not a desire, but a natural surrender; you are just a tool, like a bank teller, it is not your money that you are giving away, you are only the instrument. Always give and you will never need. If you do not give you will always be needy."                    ~Poonja

When we visited the Ringling Estate in Sarasota, Florida, I was awe-struck by the gardens and in particular, the rose garden lovingly tended by Mable Ringling from 1913-1929. It is filled with 1200 rose bushes, some varieties dating back to 1867! Of course, today, many of the roses blooming were not available for Mable to plant. The one pictured above is the Princess Diana rose and I couldn't help but consider Poonja's quote.

Though Mable lived at the estate, Ca d Oro, for only three short years before dying of diabetes, she and her husband, John, created an epicenter of cultural life on Florida's west coast. Their passion for art and culture continues to  Of the few details known about her life, Mable was not a flamboyant woman, and she did not seek the spotlight in either society or show business. She was a leader in her community, founding the Sarasota Garden Club and looking for ways to beautify the city she loved. Imagination envisions a kind, compassionate woman who loved art and culture.

Diana was truly an inspiration of all who knew of her tireless work for children and underprivileged people all over the world. She exemplified this idea of just being ~ a natural surrender ~ only the instrument.

Something to ponder ~ the time left in this body is to be used helping all others...

Compassion

"Compassion for me is just what the word says; it is 'suffering with'. It is an immediate participation in the suffering of another to such a degree that you forget yourself and your own safety and spontaneously do what is necessary." ~ Joseph Campbell

In light of world events and the devastating tragedy in Japan, it seems important to reflect on the concept of "compassion." According to several spiritual traditions, compassion is an attribute of our true nature. It is not something we need to cultivate, but rather simply undercover. Like mining a diamond or chipping away unnecessary stone as the artist creates her sculpture, we recognize habits, attitudes and beliefs that don't support compassion and clear them away.

Compassion emerges from our hearts and we find ourselves being held in the great womb of the universe - that primordial place of protection and safety. Then each of our hearts opens and we hold each other. The world and all of us in it need to be held. Then we need to "spontaneously do what is necessary."