Quotables

Be

Be – don’t try to become.  Within these two words, be and becoming, your whole life is contained.  Being is enlightenment, becoming is ignorance. – Osho

My friend passed this Buddhist quote by me recently and I wanted to share it.

Everyone has their own interpretations of quotes and principles – none more correct than the other, as each is personal.  So to me, this idea is about the simplicity of being human.  That we are, by our very nature, good and whole without having to “become” something.  That we all should spend more time just “being” – that which we are…and finding peace within that. 

But I also think that becoming is part of the circle…each day we are becoming more enlightened, growing into the people we want to be.  Nothing wrong with that in my book.  I can’t help but use the reference of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly…naturally…as it was meant to.  Moving from one form to another.  Our life is contained within that arc – being who we are and becoming what we are meant to.

So a little Buddha Balboa philosophy here seems to be the right formula for a life well lived – a little bit of “being” mixed with a dash of “becoming” equals an amazing you. – BB

TBIF: Crack

 

“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”

Leonard Cohen – Anthem

For this Thank Buddha It’s Friday (TBIF), I’m thankful for cracks.  For the little holes, spaces, fractures that allow the light to shine through.  For the imperfections in everything and everyone.  Is it not the best when the sun pierces through the clouds to shine its rays upon us?  Isn’t that the greatest reminder that darkness is fleeting…that the light will always, and I mean always, find its way through?

And why is that?  Because the light is meant to shine.  And so are you. – BB

Strong and Soft

As the Buddhist saying goes, “Have a strong back and a soft front.”

Love it.  Strong and soft.  Yin and yang.  A combination of riches.

It’s such a powerful dogma.  To me, it simply means we can be strong and open at the same time.  One does not have to preclude the other, as we so often believe in the West.  We think if you are showing strength, you cannot show vulnerability.  We have a fear that if we are open and unguarded of heart, we are fragile and weak.  But this is not true.  Why can’t we possess both qualities – as a means of completeness, as a way to reinforce all that we are?

We need a strong back to hold us upright, to brace us physically and emotionally for whatever comes our way.  In concert with that strength, we need to be pliable, flexible in our fronts, so that if a storm does come blowing through, it will not shatter us into pieces.  Remaining open to the world – undefended if you will – brings us opportunities that we may never see, should we barricade ourselves in fear and doubt.

Strong and soft.  Like a wonderful bed. – BB

HK

Back in 4th grade, in an English textbook, I read about Helen Keller.

I was amazed.

It was the first time I had heard of her and her story.  This child born healthy, contracted a disease which left her deaf and blind by the age of 19 months.  What chance did she have for a normal life?  None by most of our standards.  And yet she persevered.

Here was a woman…a child really, that fought through adversity…with every strike in the book against her, and grew into a successful author, lecturer and political activist.  She graduated from Radcliffe of all places – becoming the first deaf and blind person to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree.

The movie “The Miracle Worker” was an eye-opening portrayal of the darkness Helen endured.  It was beyond my young mind’s comprehension.  I was perhaps 10 years old and had no reference for such a human plight.  I didn’t personally know anyone who was blind or deaf…and if I had, I’m sure I would’ve been afraid of them, as so many of us are by things we don’t quite understand.

What was it like to live in darkness?  Without sound?  It was, in my imagination, the worst kind of prison.  How does one communicate?  Or feel inside?  I had no idea.

Back then, I called Helen my idol.  I suspect I didn’t really understand what I was saying.  It wasn’t that I wanted to “be her” – I just had this immense respect for her courage and rise above it all attitude…and I was awe-struck by it.  It blew my blossoming mind that this was possible…that people could beat that which held them down, that they could create a good life out of the ashes of illness and darkness.

This quote of Helen’s is one of my personal favorites:

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure.

It speaks to what I believe to be true about life….it is either daring or it is nothing.  Life is not secure – and believing it is so – is nothing short of delusion.  We are meant to experience the good and bad that life has to offer – Helen has certainly taught me that.

Although she’s been gone for some time now,  I hope Helen’s story lives on in today’s 4th grade textbooks for children to read about – so that future generations can understand and appreciate their good fortune simply by looking up and seeing the blue sky. – BB