A Poem For These Times

May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all beings enjoy happiness and the causes of happiness.
-Tibetan Buddhist aspiration

***

Cultivating the Awakened Heart-Mind (Bodhicitta)

By Katharine Bierce

It’s not personal, this pain of yours

The suffering we experience as humans is part of being human.

And yet…

If you let it, the immensity and power of this suffering can open your heart to truth.

Be still, that you may be kind.

To yourself, and others.

Begin the great work of healing the world, tikkun olam, with yourself.

“Please place the mask over your own nose and mouth first before assisting others,” the flight attendant says.

Turn off the TV.

Turn off your phone.

Set aside the doing

and sit, walk, stand, or lie down with being.

Watch your breath.

Feel your feet.

Being alive is a gift - that’s why it’s called the present.

Can you see this pandemic as an opportunity?

To cultivate what’s most important; now, not later.

Shelter-in-place in the heart, wherever you are.

Stock up on compassion.

Fill your pantry with equanimity.

Notice joy at the happiness of a dog chasing a ball

Breathe out loving-kindness to the birds, bees, flowers.

Spring is here; a time of new growth outside.

What seeds are you tending in your vast and tender heart?

Pull the weeds of greed, fear, and delusion

and remember that unconditional love conquers hatred

as surely as the sun feeds the leaves on the trees.

***

“Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. it’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.”
-Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

Inspired by a month-long meditation retreat, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, S.N. Goenka, Pema Chödrön, Chögyam Mipham Rinpoche, Tucker Peck, Culadasa, The Mind Illuminated, somatic meditation, and all beings.