Pema Chodron is an 86 year old American Tibetan Buddhist. I find strength in her age and her wisdom. I have been pulled in several directions this week, so I needed to read this this morning. I have done so several times. At the invitation of his pastor, I will speak briefly tonight at a candlelight vigil of a young Samoan seminary student who was murdered. He was a vibrant part of the Samoan congregation that meets in our church building. If they were not connected to us, I might have simply read the news, shaken my head, and continued on. But this evening, I will enter the grief of others. I wish that the one who had the gun would have had Pema Chodron's words instead.
"The source of our unease is the unfulfillable longing for a lasting certainty and security, for something solid to hold on to. Unconsciously we expect that if we could just get the right job, the right partner, the right something, our lives would run smoothly. When anything unexpected or not to our liking happens, we think something has gone wrong.
I believe this is not an exaggeration of where we find ourselves. Even at the most mundane level, we get so easily triggered - someone cuts in front of us, we get seasonal allergies, our favorite restaurant is closed when we arrive for dinner. We are never encouraged to experience the ebb and flow of our moods, of our health, of the weather, of outer events - pleasant and unpleasant - in their fullness. Instead we stay caught in a fearful, narrow holding pattern of avoiding any pain and continually seeking comfort. This is the universal dilemma.
When we pause, allow a gap, and breathe deeply, we can experience instant refreshment. Suddenly we slow down, look out, and there’s the world. It can feel like briefly standing in the eye of the tornado or the still point of a turning wheel. Our mood may be agitated or cheerful. What we see and hear may be chaos or it may be the ocean, the mountains, or birds flying across a clear blue sky. Either way, momentarily our mind is still and we are not pulled in or pushed away by what we are experiencing."
~ Pema Chodron
I believe this is not an exaggeration of where we find ourselves. Even at the most mundane level, we get so easily triggered - someone cuts in front of us, we get seasonal allergies, our favorite restaurant is closed when we arrive for dinner. We are never encouraged to experience the ebb and flow of our moods, of our health, of the weather, of outer events - pleasant and unpleasant - in their fullness. Instead we stay caught in a fearful, narrow holding pattern of avoiding any pain and continually seeking comfort. This is the universal dilemma.
When we pause, allow a gap, and breathe deeply, we can experience instant refreshment. Suddenly we slow down, look out, and there’s the world. It can feel like briefly standing in the eye of the tornado or the still point of a turning wheel. Our mood may be agitated or cheerful. What we see and hear may be chaos or it may be the ocean, the mountains, or birds flying across a clear blue sky. Either way, momentarily our mind is still and we are not pulled in or pushed away by what we are experiencing."
~ Pema Chodron
source: First Sip
image: San Damiano, October, 2022
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