(#42/365) Offerings

"In deep self-acceptance grows a compassionate understanding. As one Zen master said when I asked if he ever gets angry, 'Of course I get angry, but then a few minutes later I say to myself, 'What's the use of this,' and I let it go.'" - Jack Kornfield


Title: A Lightbulb reflection in a cup of tea
Flickr user Your Lips

(#43/365) Offerings

"from the very day of our birth, when we drink our mother's milk, we are dependent on our mother's love. This act is a symbol of love and affection. I think this act from the very first day of life, establishes the basis for our entire life." - the 14th Dalai Lama


Title: Another Milk Splash
Flickr User david_kittos

. . .

Wars begin in the minds of man, and in those minds, love and compassion would have built the defenses of peace.

When we encounter someone who mistreats us, consider please, that instead of acting in anger, withdraw. Later, when you are calm and more detached, reflect on that person who mistreated you.

Try to imagine the background of that person. Try to imagine what that person was taught as a child. Try to imagine the day or week that person was going through, and what kind of bad things had happened to that person. Try to imagine the mood and state of mind that person was in — the suffering that person must have been going through to mistreat you that way.

And understand that their action was not about you, but about what they were going through. Now think some more about the suffering of that poor person, and see if you can imagine trying to stop the suffering of that person. And then reflect that if you mistreated someone, and they acted with kindness and compassion toward you, whether that would make you less likely to mistreat that person the next time, and more likely to be kind to that person.