“Be the change you want to see in the world”
Want to see more Peace in the world?
Be more peaceable.
Take up meditation.
Practice serenity as much as you can.
Want to see more Love in the World?
Be more loving.
Try not to limit love.
………………………………….
Don’t just love your friends
Anyone can do that.
Learn to love those who frighten you;
Have compassion for those
who disgust you;
Forgive the greed of the rich
As well as the need of the poor;
When you see that the evil
are lonely and afraid,
and feel compassion-
When you see that the rich
are empty and confused,
and feel compassion-
When you learn to love the unlovable,
Accept the unacceptable,
Touch the untouchable,
Forgive the unforgivable,
You will have made your dwelling place
Want to see more Empathy in the world?
Cultivate empathy in yourself.
It’s catching.
Peace, Love and Empathy naturally lead on to Justice and Compassion.
If we can stretch our care and understanding to the whole world, as in the Tibetan Buddhist practice of compassion, then it is natural to respect all others as ourselves (first we must love ourselves!), and justice must then follow.
It’s the way to make our world a better place, one person at a time.
TREE
Peace, Love and Empathy
Are branches of one tree,
Sprung from one root;
From this same tree
Grow Justice and Compassion.
This is the Tree of Life.
This is the Tree that is given
For the Healing of the Nations;
This is the tree that is grown
For the Healing of our Souls.
Don’t cut it down,
Or burn or poison;
Embrace it with your heart and soul
And be set free.
Another year is over, time to change the calendars, time for many of us to make resolutions for the New Year.
Time for a final blog post for 2012, in the midst of the busy-ness of the Holiday season.
The two poems I have included, I wrote quite some time ago, but the themes are those I keep re-visiting, and will likely keep re-visiting for the rest of my days! Because I believe they matter more than anything, although they are easy to forget in the press of life. As John Lennon said, “Imagine..”