Memories: Each Day Radiant with New Meaning
“Anniversary” continues and deepens as it touches on the basic Buddhist teaching of impermanence—whatever is born will die—all life is change and flux—we are interdependent players in this shimmering field of change. The passage quoted from the electronic Glimpse of the Day is from Sogyal Rinpoche’s best-selling spiritual classic The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.
Lucy lights candles and incense
when she cleans her Japanese family altar, the Butsudan,
a ritual she chooses to do today
“to acknowledge and honor that there truly is no pain,
nor absence of pain; that all is life and it continues and transforms.”
Let’s hear it for the Heart Sutra!
Last year and this, my electronic Glimpse of the Day tells me:
“Bereavement can force you to look at your life directly,
compelling you to find a purpose in it
where there may not have been one before.
When suddenly you find yourself alone
after the death of someone you love,
it can feel as if you are being given a new life
and are being asked:
What will you do with this life?
And why do you wish to continue living?
Pray for help and strength and grace.
Pray that you will survive and discover
the richest possible meaning
to the new life you now find yourself in.
Be vulnerable and receptive.
Be courageous and patient.
Above all, look into your life
to find ways of sharing your love
more deeply with others now.”