« Previous | Main | Next »
Drops of Kindness ~ Eden's Garden
May 14, 2007
Eden's Tulip ~ Canon 30d
I'm a bit over-the-top inspired lately. Transforming oneself into an instrument of healing, it turns out, ramps up the volume on the inspiration meter. To hell with the idea that artist's have to be sad, morose and crazy to churn out their best work. I venture a guess that Van Gogh created masterpieces, not because he was severely depressed, but in spite of his "demons". More on that topic on a later date.. hold that thought, please.
We're taught that evil and madness ~ sorrow and suffering ~ are way more intricate and interesting than their opposites. Actually, it's the transformation of suffering that is highly infectious and intoxicating.
I'm in the mood for love. I'm also in the mood for transformational kindness and giving, which is why I'm not going to stop where I am... just one step inside the door of Lovingkindness. I'm going to gallumph down this path like a jubilant child, high on Wonderland Steroids... blissfully unaware of the fact that the people around her have completely fallen asleep to the existance of miracles. Watch me as I run! Do you see the lotus flowers blossoming at my feet? I think I'll run faster and faster in a wild effort to create as many footprints I can! Each step is a seed, every footprint, a flower of possibility. Please, won't you come play with me?
A dear friend of mine recently identified me as the Mary Poppins of Buddhism. She said "not to take it the wrong way". Ha ha ha ha... the Magical Child inside of me EMBRACES my new identity! In many religious traditions, a guru will assign devoted students a new name which represents something within them, or a quality they are hoping to develop inside of themselves. Eden may not think of herself as a guru (yet), but I think that she might have inadvertantly named me.
Hello, I'm the Bodhisattva Mary Poppins, how can I lift your heart and inspire you to open your soul's umbrella? May I teach you how to soar on the wings of your inner genius?
I like this. I think I'm already running with it.
We've been learning about Metta Practice here. It's called a practice for a reason because it's in the practicing we become masters of it. Practice, practice, practice. Forget about the performace, think of it as the soul's maintenance.
My formal posts on this topic are called "Blasts" because we are collectively sending out our kindness and love, starting with ourselves and widening our circles to the greater whole. In addition to this, I am going to hold individuals "in the light" up on my blog. We all need to be "seen" and to feel special, and it's part of our "jobs" to do this for one another. I totally believe this.
Here's a metaphor for you ~ Think of a bucket that is partially filled with the water of lovingkindess. The bucket is the world, filled with each and every sentient being on the planet. Hovering above the bucket is a leaky spicket someone didn't twist all the way shut. The spicket is you. Plink! Plink! Plink! go the raindrops of compassion falling into the bucket. You think what you are doing isn't having much of an effect, but every single drop you allow to spring forth from your soul's river has a ripple effect, sending energy across the planet, hitting the ozone layer, and eventually finding its home back where it came from... YOU!
I'm dubbing it the Raindrops of Kindness Boomerang Effect which is so easy to set into motion. The good news is that anyone can learn how to do this ~ it's like playing hop scotch or blowing bubbles. There is one problem, though. If you channel only one drop, the ripples eventually stop. Hmmm... what should this tell you? Well, duh! channel more drops!
Not all of us can be the Dalai Lama, assisting in the enlightment of millions of people. Is that a true statement? I'm sorry, I just typed in a big fat lie. You are totally capable of being a catalyst. Stop thinking I'm talking to the person sitting beside you. You. Yes YOU can touch just as many people as the Dalai Lama, only you'll be doing it invisibly... behind the scenes... like a Covert Secret Agent Dalai Lama.
I cordially invite you to change the world invisibly by touching one person at a time. Today, I will begin where everything began, in The Garden of Eden. My dear friend, Eden is a talented teacher ~ a woman with a big heart that is overflowing with the desire to be an angel of transformation ~ what the Buddhists call a Bodhisattva. Like every single one of us, she gets sad sometimes, but her sadness comes and goes like great big storms which suddenly build on the horizon, hover for who knows how long, and then blow over. You should see the way she smiles, and how it brightens the room. She's a beautiful person with a beautiful soul filled with rainforests and fragrant mosses. As she learns to channel her well of grief into a stream of compassion, get out of the way folks, because this woman is going to do what most people aren't brave enough to tackle. She's going to stare deeply into the place where the light enters us all ~ through our weakness, and she certainly isn't going to get lost there. Instead, she's going to transform it into a place where the light radiates out of her.
Please hold Eden in the light today. Send a drop of kindness her way, and I promise one day in the not-so-distant future, it will come rippling, like a Tsunami of Kindness, back into your heart.
Namaste.
May I be safe
May I be happy
May I be healthy
May I live with ease
Don't get too specific with your prayers. The Knower who Knows know what's best for all of us.
Posted by vincent at May 14, 2007 05:10 PM
Comments
Seems like your Goddess nature is coming out. I'm glad I'm awake to see it. :-)
Posted by: Bob at May 15, 2007 11:08 AM
Well, if you see Mary Poppins as a goddess, then perhaps, yes. Facilitator of metta? I sure hope so!
Posted by: susan at May 15, 2007 02:37 PM
Eden will surely be in my prayers today.
Posted by: Anonymous at May 15, 2007 02:44 PM
I like that...I'm a covert secret agent Dalai Lama, sort of like Agent 99 on "Get Smart."
I'll be holding Eden up and making those ripples!
Posted by: Star at May 15, 2007 05:57 PM
Well, Mary Poppins, romp and galumf away. I love it. Suits you EVER so well.
By the way, used meditation last night and am feeling better today. Thanks for the metta coming my way.
Posted by: janet at May 15, 2007 06:22 PM
I love absolutely everything about this post. Although I read it late, I am holding Eden in the light even now and dripping lovingkindness all over her.
Posted by: candy at May 17, 2007 09:35 PM