The Love That Will Not Die

2008 was a year of tremendous growth for me -- it was year of living with more truth and authenticity than I imagined possible; it was year of uncertainty and paving new paths ; it was a year of taking risks and opening up my heart; it was a year of walking towards pain in order to free myself of some deep childhood hurts; it was a year of dreaming and soaring; it was year of deep and real connections.

I welcome the New Year and all it has to offer .... I share below what Pema Chodron writes in her book "Comfortable with Uncertainty" about the spiritual journey. I hope even some of it speaks to you. For me, I am learning new ways .... sometimes I feel like i'm floundering and i'm drowning, and I am learning that if I stop kicking and screaming and resisting, the rough waters begin to calm.

Here's to 2009 and a journey of moving towards the earth....

"Spiritual awakening is frequently described as a journey to the top of a mountain. We leave our attachments and our worldliness behind and slowly make our way to the top. At the peak we have transcended all pain. The only problem with this metaphor is that we leave all others behind. Their suffering continues, unrelieved by our personal escape.

On the journey of the warrior-bodhisattva, the path goes down, not up, as if the mountain pointed toward the earth instead of the sky. Instead of transcending the suffering of all creatures, we move toward turbulence and doubt however we can. We explore the reality and unpredictability of insecurity and pain, and we try not to push it away. If it takes years, if it takes lifetimes, we let it be as it is. At our pace, without speed or aggression, we move down and down and down. With us move millions of others, our companions in awakening from fear. At the bottom we discover water, the healing water of bodhichitta. Bodhichitta is our heart - our wounded, softened heart. Right down there in the thick of things, we discover the love that will not die. This love is bodhichitta (means "noble or awakened heart" in Sanskrit). It is gentle and warm; it is clear and sharp; it is open and spacious. The awakened heart of bodhichitta is the basic goodness of all beings."