Loving Awareness

Remembering who we really are during these times of challenge and difficulty presents obstacles for so many of us, and yet is the source from which consciousness, freedom, and wisdom are born. It is when we are most faced with the causes of suffering: illness, grief, bias and racial prejudice, poverty and homelessness, that we can open to the possibilities of waking up to the goodness within us and the world around us. These ancient words, often spoken by Jack Kornfield reflect this truth:

“Oh nobly born, oh you who are the sons and daughters of the awakened ones, the Buddhas and the bodhisattvas. Do not forget who you really are, do not forget your true nature.”

Can we turn inward into the great heart of compassion through meditation, prayer, or time in nature to connect with the deep truth, to the part of us that cares deeply? We may have forgotten, and been distracted by those who speak with vitriolic words, tell lies, flourish on selfishness and greed, and take actions overflowing with violence and harm. Our work is to find our way back to the essence of our noble birth and bring forth the being at the source that is still untainted and nourish that being.

“Not until I accepted myself just as I am, then I can change.” — Carl Rogers

Finding our place of belonging and interconnection by reflecting on the goodness that we do or have done and by seeing into, and remembering the sincere heart of others  — those who are helpers, essential workers, who work to spread racial justice, who take a stand against destructive, limiting immigration policies, and whose activism brings forth climate justice — that is where our mindfulness must rest. Coming back again and again to the core, to discovering joy within, to the heart saying yes I belong here, I am part of this incredible mystery of life. This is our work by living Loving Awareness.

Do not doubt yourself…“for you contain multitudes” — Walt Whitman.

May you all be well, healthy, and safe.