Posts Tagged ‘friendship’

4 ways to get here from there

October 8th, 2013    -    6 Comments

scan0012Here’s the history: it all started with Google. Then Google bought Blogger, then YouTube, then Feedburner, then bought and sold two dozen other things. Then I opened a Gmail account.  I had so many Google usernames and passwords that every time I tried to go anywhere to do anything I was asked if I didn’t want to combine, or reallocate, or add this, or try again or restart or use Google+, all your friends are using Google+, and in a moment of fury and confusion I stupidly responded The only thing I want right now is Google Minus and I deleted what I thought was a useless account. Then one day last week I clicked on a link and found that I no longer had a blog feed, no longer had any blog subscribers and anyone who is reading this right now doesn’t even exist, and then I realized the terrible thing I had done, the awful irreversible crime which is to second guess Google.

I was rummaging around in my old and defunct important papers file—consisting of paper that really was once important and now is just quaint.  I found this impossibly out-of-date passport. It was my daughter’s first and as yet only passport. She was just six, and she is now 14, so there really is no use for this except its sentimental appeal. Don’t you still want to travel with this girl and her mom?

If the answer is yes, please consider the following:

1. Subscribe or re-subscribe to this blog. Subscribe using a blog reader by clicking here. Subscribe via email here.

2. Like my author page on Facebook. I spend a ridiculous amount of time over there talking to you.

3. Friend me personally on Facebook. Personally, I’m much funnier.

4. Follow me on Twitter, not that I’m going anywhere.

So let’s stay in touch. I’ve made some wrong turns, but I’m not gone yet.

Thank you.

 

best friends

April 1st, 2013    -    9 Comments

il_570xN.318379070The other morning I opened an email from a reader. I asked her if I could respond via the blog so other people could benefit. All our problems are the same; what is different is whether or not we face them in an openhearted way. When we can do that, problems resolve themselves.

I am sure you get this all the time but first off thank you so much for Momma Zen and your blog. Both have brought me to laughter and to tears.

Reaching the place of tears and laughter—the starting point of our common humanity—is my highest aspiration. When one person cries, we all cry. When one person laughs, we all laugh. Now you can see how compassion works: in our shared tears and laughter.

I started studying Buddhism when I was 18. My dad was dying and my boss had a copy of Sogyal Rinpoche’s Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. It took me a while to get through, but since then I have always been able to find a Buddhist book or teacher to help me.

What a coincidence. I, too, read that book early in my practice and it was a wonderful companion for me during a time of loss. The Dharma, or teaching, always works in what appears to be a mere coincidence. Whether you’re handed things you like or things you don’t; something that makes you happy or sad, laugh or cry; whether you are consoled or confused; you are always receiving the teaching. Disappointment is the greatest teacher, because it gets right to the source of our problems: our attachment to having our own way. We usually don’t finish those books or stay with the teachers who disappoint us, but life continually and directly delivers us this lesson: the moment it’s not the way we want it.

My best friend and I had a falling out two years ago. We tried to go back to normal but I feel like it hasn’t been the same since. We’ve drifted apart. I am in disbelief. I never thought I would lose this friendship.

Now we can see what a good teacher this friend has been for you. Things don’t go the way we think. People don’t act the way we expect. We cannot control the outcome of anything no matter how much we wish, hope, try or want. Right there is the turning point toward a deeper understanding of love. True love is letting go. Not trying to change someone else. Not trying to control the outcome. But that doesn’t mean there is nothing you can do.

I try to feel compassion, and practice tonglen or a metta meditation for my friend, but what can I do for this sad, empty, hollow feeling in my chest?

My teacher Maezumi Roshi said, “There is always something we can do.” The most important thing to do is practice acceptance. Take care that you do not try to conjure a certain outward feeling or impose a manipulation of any kind. Compassion is complete acceptance of things as they are, free of a self-serving agenda.

Within that acceptance, you can practice atonement. Offer an apology. Forgive yourself as well. Do not ignite anger or resentment by assigning blame. A genuine apology always restores harmony. Take complete responsibility and offer it without expecting an outcome.

Add your friend’s name to your prayer list. Dedicate your meditation to her. Look carefully at your motivations and intentions. Have no expectations. Simply devote your practice to your mutual well-being. Express your love and care without any need for reciprocity. We do not practice to change people’s hearts; we practice to open our own.

In short, be a best friend.

If you do these things freely and for their own sake, you will have made a friend of yourself. Your heart will soon be filled with love and gratitude. And then something will happen. It always does. Nothing stays the same. The Dharma works by itself when we stop trying to make it work.

Please stay in touch and share this with a friend.

Best Friends necklace by Jewel Mango on etsy.

 

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