Loka Samasta….
that you requested a prayer for the end of suffering
for all sentient beings, in all the worlds
to be said, when it occurs to us to do so,
and so my dear friend, I take upon myself the task to
quietly chant in time to each footfall
through the mist shrouded forest
on this cool autumn morn,
the prayer of your request.
As the words slip from my tongue,
images of suffering…
from perfume laboratories
to African ivory poachers
leaving baby elephants abandoned
to shiver and starve
with the terror of their memories,
cattle sill alive after the nail gun to the brain
has failed to do its job
being hung from a hind leg to suffer in agony
for the convenience of those who stop at the drive through
for their lunch time burger…
little girl babies being raped for
so called “protection” from AIDS
and mothers watching helplessly
as their sons and daughters starve to death
for lack of concern by those who have the resources to help…
the religious zealots who send their children
to blow themselves to pieces
along with other women’s children
who happen to be in the way…
the old woman dying alone, in pain,
unattended in a shabby understaffed nursing home...
governments more concerned with acquiring wealth, and power
for the few to the disadvantage of the many…
the children who kill other children
because they have no hope…
and for those who have it “all”
but are empty and hollow inside;
...visions of suffering…
Tears welling at the images
spill onto the forest floor to the strains...
“May all of the beings in all of the worlds be well….
May all of the beings in all of the worlds be happy…
May all of the beings in all of the worlds be free from suffering…”
I am stopped in my tracks with the enormity…
the impossibility of it all.
Just as all is lost in the midst of broken hope,
the gentlest of breeze brushes softly against wet cheek,
drying in their places the tears of a moment ago.
The looking outward falls back on itself
and is pulled to the inward eye
which catches a glimpse of another reality.
In this world, where suffering is absent,
life continues to unfold not unlike the world
of outward texture where pain and death
and certain limitations exist.
In the outer world of suffering,
these experiences are shunned as undesirable,
and each man’s journey seen as a solitary venture
filled with fear of what may come,
and regret of what has passed.
Driven by fear, and ignorance,
the man of the outer world
strives for power
so as not to be found powerless.
He strives for more,
so as not to be seen as less.
He does not consider the effects of his actions
on the world around him, much less upon his own life.
And from this fear based striving to survive,
ignorance and denial of human commonality
color his actions, and leave him alone and separate.
There is no thought or concern for the suffering of
others like himself, caught in the hamster wheel
of attachment to the world of their agreement.
Nor is there concern for the innocent beings
he uses to achieve his ends.
In this world, even those who strive to change it
looking only outward cannot do much more than
rearrange the deck chairs of a sinking ship.
A change might occur, but without a shift
from attachment only to outer vision,
to the real roots of suffering
the changes will be temporary at best.
In the world that unfolds in the inner eye,
where pain and death continue,
happiness and well being are the standard,
and fear and lack are nowhere to be found.
What each has is enough, for the moment,
and the future is of no concern.
Work erupts spontaneously
from the necessity of the moment
rather than from the need to accumulate,
or from some long ago adopted rule about human value.
Others of differing opinions are not seen as threats
or, people to be converted to our “right” way of thinking.
Harmony is the natural state,
and no one strives to put himself above another.
Animals are treated with respect and honor for
the contributions they make in the world.
And beauty is not defined by garments worn
or the passing styles of commercial fashion.
Each man is content, living in the present,
with no concern for the future or past…
as the present lived well, takes care of the future
and past lessons have been learned from attention paid at the time.
The mind is quiet, at peace, in spite of what calamities arise.
Life is seen naked, revealed as it is,
devoid of the trappings of the mental constructs
of obsolete belief systems that divide man against woman.
What arises with the inner view
on this mist shrouded morning in the autumn colored forest,
is not a command to deliver a message for others to hear,
or even a prayer from one,
for the sake of others,
but a silent song from,
and to one heart.
It is not something to attain…
it is the natural state which is untouched by
the vagaries of the mind and its manifestation
of the outer world.
It is that state within the depths
where all beings are one without division
which you, my friend,
have requested we summon
by means of a simple prayer.
J
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