Inherent Goodness

Recently the Boston Globe ran an article about Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, the spiritual teacher of Shambala who ran the Boston Marathon this past month. The article caught my eye. I was curious about a Tibetan lama running, getting sweaty and out of breath. It seems like an oxymoron. The running part of the article was interesting, but this quote intrigued me more. "Every human being is born with basic goodness, a quality inherent even in unpleasant individuals. 'An example is the sky," he said. "It's always blue but there can be clouds. Sometimes you think you're a cloud, but in reality, you're the sky. Through meditation, you can stabilize the mind and not be so carried away by your thoughts. What you do in life allows you to bring that basic goodness out."

Ahh, that's what I like, reading things like this. And yet, I know the shifting I have to do inside in order to keep my mind stablized over time and to see the basic goodness in others.

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Creating Space for Uplifting Support

It's really all because of my friend Dakota Feinstein that this blog has been invented. She opened up avenues of thought I hadn't ever considered. She started a blog and has been running it for, gosh, has it really been years? It's wonderful. Her wit, insight, courage, and writing style makes visiting it a must-do. She gave me a wonderful means to do something I had thought about for a while.

I imagined creating an environment for myself and others that is about a joyous celebration of life - of love - even when we want to close our hearts, shut down, be self-righteous, defensive, critical. What if there was a space where all those aspects of ourself were acknowledged, appreciated, but where we are seen as more than that. A space where we are reminded of who we really want to be, who we really are, underneath all our defenses. I know after 28 years of spiritual practices and close to that many years of psychotherapy, that being human is glorious, that the pursuit of freedom and enlightenment is not just about sitting quietly and seeing the divine. Being fully alive is about knowing all those icky parts of us while also knowing we are more than that. This blog is to celebrate all that uplifts us and gives us joy while being with the ordinary events of life. It's to serve as a reminder for me when I forget.....

I wanted to create a space where we could remind ourselves that underneath all our stubborn upsets we are actually loving, caring, positive, joyful people. I thought it would be grand to come to a space where we could encourage and nurture the positive directions and experiences we want to have. In the past couple years I realized that all the negative media, all the critical and judgemental people, all our fears that life will contract and all the good things will go away, all of those things will always be there. I wanted a space that was dedicated to inspiring and reminding myself, and hopefully others, that life is ever expanding with love, that it's safe to live with an open heart, and that when I live that life more fully, I am happier and more joyful. I want to live in this moment, open to the thrills of the mediocre existence, and in that find the love that connects me to everything.