The Courage to Be

With palms together,
Good Morning Sangha,

This morning I read with great sadness of the death of Dana Reeve. This woman was a great bodhisattva. Her memory, like that of her husband, will be a blessing for us all.

It is not difficult to find models for us to live by. Dana and Christopher Reeve were such models. Then so is a small one named Jennifer I saw on Discovery Health Channel the other day who was born without a face and endures tremendous pain and suffering as she undergoes a countless series of surguries to build her a face. Then there is her family, and the doctors and nurses, her extendeded family, neighbors and friends. When one tosses a pebble into the pond where do the ripples cease?

Dana Reeve was only 44 years old. She had never smoked a cigarette. Yet one in five women contract lung cancer who have never smoked in their lives. One wonders. These are people who led their lives fully. They developed great courage and compassion. They suffered, but they also succeeded.

When we live our lives in this way, directly, being with each event, each feeling that arises and still maintain our balance and our determination to be of service in the world, we are living buddhas.

I saw video of little Jennifer shortly after a massive surgery, pick up a striker and play with toy bells. The sound of the bell is both a call to mindfullness and a reminder that there is always joy in our lives even in the midst of great pain should we choose to experience it.

Be well.