Faith

With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,

This morning the topic of hope came up on my morning walk. Not directly, but in context of a discussion with friends. For thirty years or so I have been listening to the suffering of the world. As a child protective services social worker, I listened to the cries of abused and neglected children, as well as their suffering parents. As a psychotherapist, I listened to men and women struggle with their assaults, abuse, wars, robberies, and marital strife. As a Zen Buddhist priest, I listen to all sentient beings, as I listen to my True Nature: we are all suffering.

So, how to have hope?

As there is suffering, so to there is equanimity. As there is suffering, so too there is compassion. We are not alone. We are also quite resilient. It is important to accept that hope may not be a particularly good quality. It resides in the future, a future we are imagining. I prefer faith. Faith is based not in belief, but in practice. From my practice I see our resilience as a species. Moreover, I see the resilience of the universe. Life goes on, and on, and on.

Faith, with in equanimity, allows us to take the next step and continue along the path. We develop this skill set through continued practice. Sitting on the cushion life arises, things intrude, thoughts, feelings, noises, smells...everything is there, an invitation to not be present. But our practice is to let go and return; let go and return. This is a very important point.

One might say flowing water depresses a leaf. On the other hand, we might equally say the leaf surrenders to the water and in so doing retains its position on the stem.

Its all in our point of view.

Be well.