lotus likeness

Buddha Shakyamuni used the idea of the lotus growing out of the swamp to flower and open above the murk into the clarity of space as a metaphor for our own mind, with its potential to free itself from the murk and confusion of our own thoughts.

Today is the birthday of the human incarnation of my spiritual guide--Happy Birthday, Geshe-La! It is (to my mind) apropos to quote his wonderful translation of one of the greatest Buddhist works: Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life by Shantideva: "There is no thing not included in the mind."

A great teacher in the Buddhist tradition said, "When you change your mind, you change the world." So today is the day for me to think twice about all occurrences and decide that they are good ones--even the prickly ones I reject can be used as lessons learned. Everything is mind, because we are creatures that cognize our existence via experiences. Experiences are engagements of our mind with phenomena. So all is of the same "fabric" or nature of our mind. Anyway, thus reasoned Buddha, and I am inclined to agree.