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What Do I Cherish?

Poetry admin-awakening-truth Thursday, 10 September 2020 Hits
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What do I cherish? What do I dare to dream and let in my imagination?

I cherish smiles at my door with eyes looking to see if I’m free to play,

The red ruby throated humming birds in the monkey paw, shimmering, hovering and making a bee line for the high place to rest,

Hand-picked Plum cobbler that my neighbors share

Watching the squash blossom turn into a zucchini

I love the heartbeat of kindness, wisdom as it drums me into remembering what it means to pause, take a breath, turn toward the moment with each other and with presence.

I love the great redwood trees that remind me of roots that are deep, offering support and sharing widely when they have more then they need. I love that they take in my out-breath and release as air imbued with consciousness for me to breath in.

I love being able to drop beneath the surface and touch into the ground of being, the luminous presence that ties me into belonging with all things.

I love the capacity to hold the deep ache of emptiness that comes from the absence of presence, hold it with care and kindness, knowing it isn’t all there is, and watch how its tendrils take so many different shapes,

How when I reach in, allow, the empty vacuousness changes and becomes full of presence, giving me faith.

I love inquiry, presence with others and open-ended questions where much is revealed. I become more whole or at least remember the wholeness that I have always been but somehow had forgotten.

I love expressions of generosity, when out of nothing is a heart reaches out and touches another with what there is to offer

I love the wild things, creatures, water, trees and the clouds that will not be tamed.

When I touch all of what I cherish, when I’m with others doing the same. When I’m around poets, song writers, dreamers and wild mad women who refuse to be boxed, bent and told how they are supposed to be, it allows me to imagine a world where life is respected. Where liberation and wellbeing are the birthright of all, and that awakening to our shared belonging within the web of life we cherish as we cherish life itself. Where our shared belonging is fundamental for a spiritually fulfilling, socially just, ecologically sustainable, and equitable world.

I imagine a world that is based upon compassion- the silver bridge that connects the tenant of unsatisfactoriness with the inescapable reality of love- that our togetherness and our inseparability go hand in hand with our challenges and heartbreaks.

I imagine a world where more people hold the paradox that liberation is eminent here and now, available to all, yet the injustices in the world prevent our access to collective peace and freedom. Together, we hold this paradox, develop insight and compassion, and empower ourselves, each other and our leaders to embrace and address, both internally and externally, everything that keeps these tragedies of wrong seeing in place, our biggest challenges of racism, patriarchy, homophobia, colonialism, racial capitalism and the devastating heartbreak of climate change.

I envision connection is our norm, rooted and tethered to what is timeless and yet ever present, grounded in ethics that sees our connection between intent and impact, and lives with emotional and relational intelligence.  We live a deeply embedded understanding that all life is interconnected.

I imagine a world where collective wellbeing is at the center or our worldview, we let that move us, motivate us towards our full potential as thriving individuals and create families, communities dedicated towards healing our world. Where we have the time, the support and the shared values to

Pause

Breathe

Heal self

Immerse in Self

Heal the world.

Repeat.

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About the Author
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Amma Thanasanti is the founder of organizations Awakening Truth and Whole Life Path. She is a California born spiritual teacher dedicated to serving beings. She has been committed to awakening since she first encountered the Dharma in 1979. As a former Buddhist nun of 26 years, she combines the precision and rigor of the Ajahn Chah Forest Tradition and a passion for wholeness. Amma invites you to pause to see what is liberating at the core of your human condition while also considering your well-being, your ability to know and and advocate for successively complex needs and integrate these into all aspects of daily life.
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