Slaying Dragons

Tuesday, October 1, 2013:

You can have no greater ally in the war against your greatest enemy, your own self-grasping and self-cherishing, than the practice of compassion. It is compassion, dedicating ourselves to others, taking on their suffering instead of cherishing ourselves, that, hand in hand with the wisdom of egolessness, destroys most effectively and most completely that ancient attachment to a false self that has been the cause of our endless wandering of samsara. That is why in our tradition we see compassion as the source and essence of enlightenment and the heart of enlightened activity.

Glimpse After Glimpse

Sogyal Rinpoche

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Laugh… choose your battles and don’t allow the battles to choose you. That is the theme of the Serenity Prayer: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. 

   People are very upset at this time in American history. It isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last. Frankly, it has worn me down and I leave the fight to others most of the time. Politics were once my forte and, even in the most peaceful times, I was angry and frustrated because I couldn’t see where my cause was undermined by my own lack of insight. I darted about with my fist in the air over any cause that seemed suited to my concerns. Though I had the courage to man the ramparts, I had little wisdom about which rampart was worth sacrificing my energy and time. I came to a point where I had to ask myself whether what I’m outraged about is worthy of my discontent or is my discontent an outrage of its own merit?

    My spiritual detachment doesn’t prevent me from engaging in society. I believe that compassion compels me to action with compassion I have found in my heart what moves me instead of an outwardly influenced sense of self-righteousness. We all are aware that dragons are mythical creatures. My Saint George the Dragon Slayer or Don Quixote have only chimeras to tilt when reality would suggest that the dragons I must fight are in my soul. The confusion and fear raging in my mind creates more discord than anything I would have hoped to resolve. I need to have the serenity to accept that which I can’t change, or to simply understand the courage to change what I can with clarity and wisdom.

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