Contemplative Monday

The following is taken from 'Heart Advice, Weekly Quotes from Pema Chodron'.

JOINING HEAVEN AND EARTH

"Recently, in a friend's kitchen I saw on the wall a quotation from one of 

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's talks, which said:

"Hold the sadness and pain of samsara (the repeating cycle of birth, life and death)

 in your heart and at the same time

the power and vision of the Great Eastern Sun.

Then the warrior can make a proper cup of tea."

I was struck by it because when I read it I realized that I myself

 have some kind of preference for stillness. 

The notion of holding the sadness and pain of samsara in my heart rang true,

but I realized I didn't do that;

at least, I had a definite preference for the power and vision of the Great Eastern Sun.

My reference point was always to be awake and to live fully,

 to remember the Great Eastern Sun --- 

the quality of being continually awake.

But what about holding the sadness and pain of samsara in my heart at the same time?

The quotation really made an impression on me. It was completely true:

if you can live with the sadness of human life (what Rinpoche often called the tender heart

or genuine heart of sadness), if you can be willing to feel fully and acknowledge

continually your own sadness and the sadness of life, 

but at the same time not be drowned in it, because you also remember 

the vision and power of the Great Eastern Sun,

you experience balance and completeness, joining heaven and earth,

joining vision and practicality."

Exploring a Peony blossom.