In this issue:
Here’s a metaphor: Our actions of thought, word, and deed are the words we use to write the story of our life upon the pure, unsullied pages of the Eternal. We’re but one chapter in the Eternal’s book among all the stories of all the beings who have lived or will ever live. The “pages” of the Eternal themselves are “void, unstained and pure”1 and accept whatever is written upon them without editing or criticism. They simply are, and a manifestation of infinite Stillness, infinite Compassion, infinite Love, and infinite Wisdom. The Eternal-pages don’t write our story for us, but they make the story possible.
We can write our stories in ways that block out the purity of the Eternal’s pages:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua Eu feugiat pretium nibh ipsum consequat nisl vel pretium Auctor eu augue ut lectus arcu bibendum at varius Maecenas accumsan lacus vel facilisis Amet dictum sit amet justo donec enim diam Sagittis id consectetur purus ut faucibus pulvinar elementum integer enim Elementum curabitur vitae nunc sed velit dignissim sodales ut Tellus mauris a diam maecenas sed enim ut sem viverra Eget velit aliquet sagittis id consectetur purus ut faucibus pulvinar Elit pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et Arcu non odio euismod lacinia Eu feugiat pretium nibh ipsum consequat nisl vel pretium lectus Imperdiet proin fermentum leo vel orci porta non pulvinar Turpis nunc eget lorem dolor Egestas sed tempus urna et pharetra Purus ut faucibus pulvinar elementum.
This happens when our lives are so thick and dense with external preoccupations that the Eternal shines through only with difficulty. It’s a story filled with plots and subplots, with soap operas and interpersonal conflicts, with striving and ambition for worldly success and recognition, with chasing after sensory experiences, with seeking to validate a life with all kinds of stuff—physical, intellectual, and emotional. In short, dense with self. And yet, as can be seen in this illustration, even the most self-preoccupied and self-centered story cannot completely block the Eternal’s Compassion, Love, and Wisdom and they will manifest to some extent in the story.
Here’s how this life story might look if written from a less self-interested perspective:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Eu feugiat pretium nibh ipsum consequat nisl vel pretium. Auctor eu augue ut lectus arcu bibendum at varius. Maecenas accumsan lacus vel facilisis. Amet dictum sit amet justo donec enim diam. Sagittis id consectetur purus ut faucibus pulvinar elementum integer enim.
Now the story makes sense (or would if this example were human language and not typographer’s placeholder text). The individual words flow. There is light and space between the letters, words, and lines which help us distinguish meaning. Meaning shines through in relation to the background page the story is written upon; without the background of the Eternal there is no meaning just confusion. This is a story that’s not crammed with physical, mental, and emotional busy-ness, and that allows words of Compassion, Love, and Wisdom to inform the story. And, there are simply fewer words to clutter up life’s page.
The single most helpful way to let the light and air and space of the Eternal into the story is through ongoing pure meditation and mindful regard of the Precepts.
Without these, the self starts narrating the story and, as in the earlier illustration, it quickly begins to
tighten, and shrink, and
. The story becomes distorted and unfocused, and its meaning elusive.
The story of our life is not pre-written for us. We choose each word-action ourselves, and the story is the consequence. Our story will be influenced by our inherited karmic tendencies, but how we tell the tale is ultimately up to us. And just as all the chapters in a book relate to one another, affect one another, our story chapter is important for it relates to and affects the others in the book of life.
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