“You only lose what you cling to.”
― Gautama Buddha
― Gautama Buddha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gx1Pv02w3Q
Its not often we are gifted with insight into how our lives could be if. I call them what if scenarios. What if we didn't have kids, If we didn't get married. If I was an only child. What if I hadn't lost that job or if I had gotten that job. If we hadn't moved, if we would only move. What if we had more money, nicer cars, could get my nails done instead of doing them my self. What if I could drop 30 pounds. What if we hadn't made that mistake. what if I died. What if you died. What if...
http://ctzen.org/sunnyvale/enUS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=70&Itemid=83
Last night I was given a gift.
Some insight.
A what if.
A dream.
A glimpse into the future.
https://www.quora.com/What-do-Buddhists-mean-when-they-say-life-is-an-illusion
This glimpse into the future was not something that could be changed, it was a certainty. It wasn't a what if. It was just a matter of when.
You died.
The dream was very real. I felt everything as if it had actually happened. The remorse, anguish, hurt, loss. The sorrow I felt at this loss was more than I could bear. In my dream I couldn't take care of my self, I stopped taking care of myself, all I could do was curl up into a ball and cry. Not just cry, sob. Alone, wandering aimlessly in my home, looking out windows, seeing nothing.
A faceless friend stepped in. came to my rescue, led me around. She took me home. It was a nice home full of all ages of people, bright colors, warm feelings. This friend was loving, patient, compassionate, and calm.
While the friend, and other faceless entity's, were putting me into a bed that was soft and had a granny square blanket, three boys came in and were happily running around me; they all stopped and wondered why I was not responding to their happiness, they wanted me to play with them. One reached out his hand to me with a look of compassion that I have never experienced before. I reached out and took his small hand. The small hand seemed to fill mine completely. I momentarily felt joy, warmth, love.
As instantly as those happy feelings came they disappeared and I remembered you were gone and started crying again.
The sorrow was all at once replaced with a wave of anger. I wondered if you really ever loved me, if our relationship meant anything; if you did how could you have left me all alone. As quickly as those feelings came on they vanished and I was left with a deep sorrow of loss again.
I woke up. Tears still in my eyes.
In my dream I know who died in my dream. I purposely don't name it here.
I know who the friend was who helped me. I purposely don't name it here. I feel, while very comforting to me, putting names to the faces, is not the point.
The face, of either of these people, could be me, it could be you. It could be a loved one, it could be a stranger. While some of the details of my dream were important, I think the core message is far more important. Life is truly too short to hold on to anger, resentment, and any and all of the bad aspects of life that are pretty good at distracting us from what is truly important. Life is too short to hate ourselves or anyone for what if's.
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”
― Gautama Buddha
In everyone's life we all have someone, or someone's, whom we don't associate with anymore, and sometimes for good reasons. Some of these people come back around as we travel the path of life, some do not. ― Gautama Buddha
There will always be some people who will always be in your life. Always, whether you want them to be or not. These people stay for a reason. Whether it is because you are related, by blood or marriage, or you are just friends and some thing else binds your lives together. These precious few people will bring out the very best and very worst in you and you will love each other for that.
The Pith of the Matter is this. Take nothing for granted. Let some of the anger go. Say I love you often and when ever you can. Let the people you know, who know you, who you feel with, that you value their life and you are grateful to be a part of it.
Appreciate who you are now. What you have to offer. You are special and life is too short to dwell on the what ifs. You will never be in this place doing the exact same thing in the same way with the same people ever again. Even if some of those people choose not to stay they will play some importance in your life in the now. Be mindful.
Last night I was given a gift.
Some insight.
A what if.
A dream.
A glimpse into the future.
http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/meaning-of-life
“Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.”
― Alan W. Watts
― Alan W. Watts
“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything - anger, anxiety, or possessions - we cannot be free.”
― Thích Nhất Hạnh, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation
― Thích Nhất Hạnh, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation
