Shared Humanity

There are many ways to recognize our shared humanity.

For me it’s being present to life. Present to my experiences and bearing witness to others experiences.

Knowing that although you and I walk on the same planet, we have different experiences.

We can all experience joy and sorrow, love and fear, poverty and wealth, isolation and connection in any given moment. Because some of it may be an actual way of life and some of it a mindset.

Kindness and compassion ease suffering and regardless of our circumstances we are all worthy of being loved.

Each of us is part of the larger universe and we are connected in a million ways.

Namaste,

Shobhna

Let Love Lead

 

 

 

 

Where love is deep

much can be accomplished

                    ~Shinichi Suzuki

Listening

We have a 14 year old Tibetan Parakeet we adopted a couple of years ago.  He came to us injured and couldnt go back to the home he had been living in.  His wing was broken and after his wing healed he needed to regain muscle strength to fly again. We were going to find him a different home but instead we decided he could stay with us.

He has his cage and the gate remains unlocked and he enjoys coming out and going back in as he pleases.  Although he is not learning any new words that we know of, he has a few phrases he uses with us.

One of them is “Can you hear me?”

He keeps asking the question as long as we are in the room and until we respond.

So he gets the response, “Yes Dewey, I can hear you” or some variation of that.  He is usually satisfied with that and starts doing other things. We go through this interaction everyday. He prefers a certain tone of voice and his name in the response. Anything different and we are back to his question.

Listening to someone is a gift to them and if we truly hear them, it is also a gift to ourselves.

Deep listening builds connection and understanding

Listening and being heard can be transformative

 

Namaste,

Shobhna

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Radiating Compassion

I read this beautiful Sufi teaching today:

Overcome any bitterness that may have come because you were not up to the magnitude of the pain that was entrusted to you.

Like the mother of the world who carries the pain of the world in her heart,

Each one of us is part of her heart, and therefore endowed with a certain measure of suffering.

With acceptance we can hold ourselves and our suffering, with tenderness and compassion. We can hold this suffering that has been entrusted to us and allow compassion to grow. We can extend that compassion to every being and to our mother of the world.

Namaste,

Shobhna

Choose Love

“When the path is blocked, back up and see more of the way. We are each a mountain for the other to climb, and often our path to love is interrupted by a mishap or a problem or something unexpected that needs attending. We tend to call these unexpected things in life “obstacles.” Often the thing in the way comes from another person: a stubbornness falls like a tree blocking where we want to go, or a sadness comes like a flash flood to muddy the road between us, or just as we go to rest in the clearing we have prepared, we are bitten by something hiding in the undergrowth. Thus, in daily ways, we have this constant choice: to see each other as the stubborn, muddy, biting thing that blocks our way, or to back up and take in the whole person as we would a mountain in its entirety, dizzy when looking up into its majesty. When we are blocked in our closeness with another, we have this constant opportunity: to raise our eyes and behold each other completely, then to kneel and lift the fallen tree, or cross the flooded path, or pluck and toss the biting thing. We have the chance to keep climbing, so we might cup the water that runs from each other, so we might quench our thirst as from a mountain stream, knowing that love like water comes softly through the hardest places.”

― By Mark Nepo     The Book of Awakening: Having the Life you want by Being Present to the life you have

Namaste,

Shobhna

Practice

In each moment we have the opportunity to greet what we seek. 

Namaste,

Shobhna

With Love

“The source of love is deep in us, and we can help others realize a lot of happiness.  One word, one action, or one thought can reduce another person’s suffering and bring him joy.  One word can give comfort and confidence, destroy doubt, help someone avoid a mistake, reconcile a conflict, or open the door to liberation.  One action can save a person’s life or help him take advantage of a rare opportunity.  One thought can do the same, because thoughts always lead to words and actions.  If love is in our heart, every thought, word, and deed can bring about a miracle.”

~Thich Nhat Hahn

 

Buddha statue in my garden

Namaste,

Shobhna