Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: compassion

  • Loving-kindness and Compassion

    ​A friend forwarded a message this morning from Pax Christi USA, a movement founded in Europe at the end of World War II by Catholics who had suffered the terror and trauma of war. Quoting from the email content:

    Pax Christi has opposed war and all preparations for war. We do not endorse warmaking as a solution for any political or social dispute, but we demand that Congress exercise its responsibility and pass a War Powers Act immediately in order to block this immoral and unconstitutional action.

    I noticed the placement of the word “but” right away. In NLP and conscious communication the word “but” acts as a deletion or negation mechanism, often invalidating, erasing, or devaluing the clause that precedes it. It shifts the focus entirely to the information that follows the word “but,” making that information the final, most important impression. It seems highly unlikely that those sending out this message understood consciously that the word “but” is considered a “killer” word because it often negates previous positive statements.

    This paragraph was also included in the email message:

    We pray for an end to the violence, a cessation of the bombing, and for an embrace of nonviolent solutions that affirm the autonomy and human rights of the people of Iran and the Middle East.

    I might suggest an edit so that last line simply says, “affirm the autonomy and human rights of all people.”

    I am navigating a pain flare in my right hip. While this is not new, it has been many years since I have experienced this level of discomfort. Likely the current uncomfortable sensations in my body are not unconnected to the conditions in our world.

    I looked up the quotation “Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed” while the message from Pax Christi USA remained open on my screen. “That hatred never ceases hatred is an ancient, fundamental truth, most famously attributed to the Buddha in the Dhammapada (Verse 5). It teaches that returning hate for hate only perpetuates a cycle of violence and suffering, whereas loving-kindness and compassion are the only means to resolve hatred.”

    Loving-kindness and compassion…. Only and always, loving-kindness and compassion….

  • True Compassion

    Sandhill cranes are known for their lifelong pair bonds, making them symbols of devotion and faithfulness in some cultures. While I often hear them in the area (sometimes on Sandhill Boulevard) out riding my bike, yesterday morning I was gifted a very close encounter with a pair. These birds are very used to humans.

    My encounter gave me joy and stimulated a substantial amount of nostalgia. When we were on the East Coast of Florida many years ago, they would come right into your garage if you left the door open! Of course, nature has a way of reminding us that too much of a good thing is still too much. What came to mind was the beautiful way the Deep Spring Daily Reflection encourages us to cultivate true compassion.

    Compassion is a healer for the Earth, for yourself, for others. You are not here to do it perfectly, and no human does. What you are here to do is love. So often those of you that are so attuned to others, so desiring of service and so attuned to the suffering of Gaia herself and all that is upon her, you can become stuck in a place of sorrow and grief and anger for the things that are happening that don’t need to be. At this point in Earth’s evolution they are, but you see that we don’t have to destroy each other in war, we don’t have to destroy the food supply, none of these things. But these things are here now. Anger has an energy to it that sometimes is an impetus for change, but in and of itself it cannot truly bring that change that is needed and desired for you inside yourself, for others, for the Earth.

    Compassion is the fertilizer of the soul.

    So, I encourage you as you go through your daily life, in moments you’ll be sad, you’ll be angry, all the different emotions. They just come and they go. But when you begin to feel contraction or depression, anxiety or agitation, what you may call fear, or wanting to fight against, to push against, either to push away or to contract, to protect, when you notice it, just breathe. Sit and breathe for a moment. See it for what it is. It’s neither good nor bad, here nor there. But then consciously move into compassion. You cannot have true compassion for the Earth and others if you do not have it for yourself.

    So, when you find yourself in constricted places, take time to move into compassion, but do not leave yourself out of the equation. ~ March 14, 2025

    It seems the message here is quite universal: It’s neither good nor bad, here nor there.

    When migrating, sandhill cranes carry a stone in their mouths to help them stay awake. If the stone falls, it wakes them up. Similarly, if a crane is standing watch at night, it will stand on one leg so that if the other leg drops, they wake up. This is why many equate cranes with vigilance. (from CreationGirl Blog)

    A very good reminder….

  • Dear Former Me

    When I saw my primary on Monday she said I needed Zoloft or a therapist, maybe both. I had been overwhelmed with the stress of everything John has been going through, complicated mightily by the situation with Joel. For those new to YBR, Joel has been my co-author for over twenty years. He has developed dementia, and after being hospitalized in March for a medical issue, deemed unable to return to his home. He is now in a memory care facility near his son in Tennessee. On Wednesday his voice sounded raspy, and on Thursday morning a staff member swabbed his nose while we were on FaceTime with another friend. He has not answered text or a FaceTime call since.

    It is said one can handle work stress or home stress but not both at the same time.

    The story is more complex than appropriate to share in a single blog (would likely make a best-selling book), but what is important for this post is to recognize there is a distinction between pain and suffering.

    I have a lot of pain about Joel’s son not answering my email asking about his dad. It is almost incomprehensible the seeming lack of compassion the son has for those of us who have been with his dad. Several of us have been supporting him, caring for him, assisting him in meeting his stated desire to live out his life in his own home. Suffering comes when I go into resistance and blame about the choices the son is making. Suffering rides in on the shame that I participated in Joel’s current conditions by getting the paperwork in place that gave the son the legal right to make decisions for his dad. Shame also arises when I face how little compassion there has been for how difficult it is to supervise someone’s care from out of state.

    Yesterday’s news of yet another school shooting. Incomprehensible. At least 19 children and two teachers were killed yesterday when a gunman opened fire in a Texas elementary school. Incomprehensible. Many on social media speak of the heart-wrenching pain of this horrendous violence to innocent children. I was touched profoundly by one sharing that added wisdom to the mix.

    When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news my mother would say to me, “LOOK FOR THE HELPERS. YOU WILL ALWAYS FIND PEOPLE WHO ARE HELPING.” To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers, so many caring people in the world. ~ Mr. Rogers

    Yesterday I had an EMDR session with a very special colleague. I am grateful she was available to assist my finding some equanimity. I have been suffering. There was A LOT OF pain released with the emotion. As follow up to our time together, she suggested I write a letter to the former me.

    May 24, 2022

    Dear Former Me,

    I knew you would appreciate the special paper. You were such a loving creature and your heart wanted to do the right thing. You could not see all that was involved. It was not just about that time and place. It was as much about this time and place. That now and this now are one and the same, just as “you” and “I” are one and the same.

    You have done everything within your power. This is true for me, too. Fortunately for both of us, there is a higher power.

    We have neither had a childhood. It is time for us to have that chance. Children deserve to wake up in the morning and feel excited for their day. They do not thrive in the fields of constant vigilance.

    Do you remember the joy you felt in the gardens? You remembered it at the aviary at the zoo in Battle Creek. Your entire being was bliss. That is what you remember when I listen to the mockingbirds in Florida. We don’t have birds singing to us every moment but we have an experience of “ALL IS WELL” in our sweet bodies.

    I want you to do something for us. I want you to let go of your part. Let go of the feeling responsible for Joel. Let go of doing something wrong that hurt him.

    I’ll let go of my part, too.

    While neither of us carries all of the emotions, we both have carried the imprint – and the imprint has created a distortion.

    Can you see how the words on the page are now gradually going uphill? Things are looking up for us. Joel lives. I live. You live on, too. All endings are really new beginnings. May is going to be memorable for us. Our new beginning.

    I love you. Thank you. Please forgive me. I forgive you.

  • Being of Genuine Service

    Tuesday evening while still in the post-overnight-drive malaise, I tried to log on as Zoom host for our Dharma Path class. It said “username / password incorrect” so I tried again. Same thing. Then the foggy thinking took over and I questioned if the link was set up on one of the other accounts. I tried both, but neither of those worked either, so I tried the main account once more.

    Up popped, “YOUR ACCOUNT HAS BEEN LOCKED FOR 30 MINUTES DUE TO FIVE INCORRECT LOGIN ATTEMPTS.”

    About 15 minutes late opening the room, and about 15 minutes before the class is to begin, I used the student link to log in as a participant. That worked, but I was unable to support the class as host by making the teacher/s co-hosts, muting, spotlighting the teacher, recording the class, etc.

    I asked one of the other students who is also a volunteer host to give it a try. He got the same message. I sent a text message to the Zoom team leader who was not attending the class. Perhaps she could help.

    Barbara said we would begin and we would just rely upon audio recording with her iPad.

    About 15-20 minutes later, the Zoom team leader was successful logging in as host! She was able to make me host, and I was able to perform my hosting duties.

    You so want to be of genuine service….

    I was very aware of the significance of Aaron’s opening illustration about a young child’s coming to dinner and lamenting, “I don’t want that black stuff on my potatoes.”

    Note* I am allergic to black pepper. It gives me a sour stomach and “juicy” burps.

    Aaron had Barbara share her experience at age 17 of being on a freedom ride with a group of students from the north who went into the deep south working toward the end of segregation. When Barbara voiced her fear in anticipation of the following day’s event, an elder church member said to her, “WE would not want you to do this if you were not afraid — you need to recognize the harm that could be done so you can already forgive them for any possible harm.”

    It is like Jesus saying, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

    The following day their bus was run off the road. It was tipped on its side. The angry mob was breaking the windows. Glass and rocks were raining down on them. Amidst this shock and risk a single voice began to sing, “We shall overcome…” before they all joined in.

    Barbara remembers that as a pivotal moment.

    Great harm or even death may have come to them if not for the arrival of the National Guard.

    Many of us are old enough to remember segregated movie theaters, drinking fountains, schools. Forward movement is not always a straight line.

    A substantial theme of the class was this path of genuine service while navigating an ongoing pandemic and divisiveness. We were asked how we would (or could) respond if a neighbor’s child fell on the sidewalk and was obviously seriously injured. The parents of this child had been very hostile toward social distancing, wearing a mask, or getting a vaccine. Perhaps one of the parents currently had Covid. Several student were able to describe ways to tend to the needs of the child while still protecting themselves from potential exposure to the virus.

    During the Q&A, sincere anger and frustration was expressed about a grown son who refused to get a Covid test for his mother to be comfortable coming to and assist the family with a toddler and an expectant mom. Aaron used the example of saying a firm “no” from a place of compassion as one would do if a teenage son had been drinking and wanted to drive the car.

    Aaron responded to the anger and frustration with such wisdom and loving kindness.

    “Compassion does not make you weak.”

    Another person expressed fear around the deepening of positions of humans around alternate views.

    “They are not here as destroyers of each other, they are teachers for one another.”

    As this last month of 2021 unfolds, my sister (Janis) and I continue to use the 2020 Magic Eye calendar as a spiritual template for the upcoming month.

    December’s is a lovely holiday scene.


    As you let your focus relax, three deer appear in the foreground. The one on the left is looking toward the right. The one on the right is looking toward the left. The one in the middle is looking forward.

    Varying slightly from culture to culture, symbolism of deer is gentleness, awareness of surroundings, unconditional love, and mindfulness. A deer represents innocence, kindness, grace, and good luck.

    May all beings act from these qualities that are within each of us.

    That is being of genuine service….

  • DO What YOU Can

    “I don’t know what your destiny will be,
    but one thing I do know:
    The ones among you who will be really happy
    are those who have sought and found how to serve.”
    ~ Albert Schweitzer

    Tapping with Scarlett Lewis of The Forgiveness Project during the World Tapping Summit, my heart opened deeply related to a stream of past energies. Scarlett’s 6-year-old son, Jesse, was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the deadliest mass shooting at a school in U.S. history.

    Interestingly, soon after tapping in forgiveness with Scarlett I was gifted some precious stories demonstrating what happens when you do what YOU can do.

      Leaving work late, “K” had to use the maintenance door at the back of the building. The cement stairwell was packed with snow but there sat a fat toad! As she picked the toad up, he was very cold but his eyes fluttered open briefly.

      That toad rode home in her passenger seat. She “turned the heat off and the music down.” He was safely placed in her monarch cage before she searched how to care for toads in captivity. Following instructions, she added a pan of sand and a bowl of water. The next morning he had dug down in the sand and covered himself with leaves. “K” put him in a dark cool part of house and he remains in hibernation. If he wakes, she will feed him. She hopes to keep him until spring and release him.

    “K” did what she could do. She truly is a shaman. I sent her the toad totem meaning: Toads have always been ascribed supernatural powers and they are believed to have a special connection with invisible dark forces we people cannot understand.

      “BJ” is a CNA working in hospice care. Covid-19 has certainly had an impact on patients and those who care for them. Standing at the bedside (gowned, masked, and gloved), a dying patient looked into her eyes and said, “Can I please hold your hands?” She felt like she was being touched by an angel for those short moments the patient held her hands before thanking her, and afterwards found a quiet place to reflect.



    “BJ” just does what she can do. Every day she is present with patients, family members, co-workers and HERSELF, providing support and a safe space.

      “A” also does what she can do. “A” just turned one-year-old.

      Born at the beginning of the pandemic, she has spent her life without many of the things we had believed we needed to be happy.

      But, at just 12 months old, “A” can wave and say bye-bye.

      Her mother sent a video of her waving and saying bye-bye over and over! It was soooooo cute.

      And then her mother asked if she wanted to say be happy. “A” smiled her biggest world-winning smile right into the camera and said clearly, “BE HAPPY!”

    You can only imagine what gifts “A” will bring the world as she continues to grow…

    We are not expected to do it all.

    We are not expected to do it right.

    We are invited to seek and find ways to serve and to be happy.

    The surest way to do that is to just DO What YOU Can….

  • Many Happy Returns

      “Whether we have happiness or not depends on the seeds in our consciousness. If our seeds of compassion, understanding, and love are strong, those qualities will be able to manifest in us. If the seeds of anger, hostility and sadness in us are strong, then we will experience much suffering. To understand someone, we have to be aware of the quality of the seeds in his consciousness. And we need to remember that his is not solely responsible for those seeds. His ancestors, parents, and society are co-responsible for the quality of the seeds in his consciousness. When we understand this, we are able to feel compassion for that person. With understanding and love, we will know how to water our own beautiful seeds and those of others, and we will recognize seeds of suffering and find ways to transform them.”

      ― Thích Nhất Hạnh, Your True Home: The Everyday Wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh: 365 days of practical, powerful teachings from the beloved Zen teacher

    These words from Nhất Hạnh opened our practice this morning, January 30, 2021. What a powerful lesson to remember on the birthday of two people I love. One (a woman) is younger than I, and the other (a man) is slightly my elder. I cannot say for sure how I will be when I am his age, but I am old enough already to have compassion for the aging process.

    One of the members of Deep Spring Sangha lost his grandfather this week. One of the members of the Zen Empty Circle sangha lost his sister this week as well. Since the practice today was dedicated to her, Jerry Ashmore’s dharma talk began, “We don’t know for sure what happens after we die. At least I don’t. That’s absolutely the don’t know mind. The question I often ask myself is how can we make their death meaningful when a loved one passes?”

    Jerry continued with the following story:

    A student asks how to prepare for death.

    “When you die, and you are reborn, how can you be reborn in a good place, into a positive rebirth?” the Buddha asks the student.

    “Well,” the student replies, “I have to live a life of wisdom and compassion.”

    “Yes,” the Buddha agrees, “if you live a life of wisdom and compassion, you will have a favorable rebirth. Now, what if there is no rebirth, what will you do? What can you do to live a happy life?”

    “Well, I have to live a life of wisdom and compassion….”

    Jerry’s conclusion from this story is if we live a life of wisdom and compassion the afterlife will take care of itself.

    The sangha member who had just lost his sister wished she could have seen herself through the eyes of those who benefited from her life. She had been sober for 30 years. One person called to offer condolences saying because of his sister, she herself had been sober for 28 years!

    While we may have some moments of missed opportunities for living life with wisdom and compassion, our lives are filled with lasting moments of wisdom and compassion. Any missed opportunity is simply another invitation.


    Birthday Candles

    It’s a happy ritual
    meant to remind us that
    all we hope to have and be
    begins with a little
    wishing.

    ~ Meanings of Life – A Cardthartic Experience

    May all beings have a happy life, many happy birthdays, and many happy returns!

  • Compassion is Not a Luxury

    We live in a time when science is validating
    what humans have known throughout the ages:
    that compassion is not a luxury;
    it is a necessity for our well-being,
    resilience,
    and survival.

    ~ Roshi Joan Halifax

    This morning I saw a headline “How Next Door Neighbors With Different Political Views Have Stayed Friends.” The photo shows a driveway with a Biden sign on one side and a Trump sign on the other. By each of the political signs was a sign of compassion.

    Handmade yard signs with arrows, reading ‘We (Heart) Them,’ stand alongside opposing political signs in the Mitchell and Gates front yards in Mt. Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh.

    Last evening my dharma buddy said John and I are the macrocosm and microcosm. Macrocosm and microcosm refers to a realization that a part reflects the whole and vice versa. Think about a wave in the ocean.

    The Mitchell and Gates households are also the macrocosm and microcosm.

    I received an email of cartoons about President Trump this morning. A wave of nausea arose as I saw the depth of unkindness of the content. In Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, Anne Lamott writes, “Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.”

    You may have heard that same sentiment expressed about anger: anger is like eating the poison and expecting the rat to die.

    We can add: lack of compassion is like eating rat poison and expecting the rat to die.

    If you wonder how you can allow compassion to arise, especially in those times and circumstances where it is clear we do not see things the same way, search Quotes Disagreement. Here are a few helpful hints:

      Bertrand Russell:
      “Love is wise; hatred is foolish. In this world, which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other, we have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we don’t like. We can only live together in that way. But if we are to live together, and not die together, we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance, which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet.”

      Friedrich Nietzsche:
      “He who cannot put his thoughts on ice should not enter into the heat of dispute.”

      Criss Jami:
      “Together, we form a necessary paradox; not a senseless contradiction.”

      Jonathan Swift:
      “That was excellently observed’, say I, when I read a passage in an author, where his opinion agrees with mine. When we differ, there I pronounce him to be mistaken.”

    These are not new concepts. However, all that is happening in the collective calls forth a need to live these values humanity holds in common, even when we have very different opinions: Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you. Matthew 7:1-3 (KJV)

    I just posted a link to a very timely article titled, “No Time For Self-Care? Try These Snack-Size Habits,” on the Imagine Healing Facebook page. For those who do not have access to Facebook, trust me (or follow the link to scan the list of great suggestions for yourself) this is doable. Take a nap. Breathe slowly. Watch a favorite movie. Take a bath. Write in a journal. Exercise. Sing.

    Self-care — like compassion, is not a luxury….

    And a lovely reminder at the close of the article: You don’t have to do everything, but doing something small each day can and will have a cumulative effect on your capacity to deal with “the new normal,” “tremendous uncertainty,” and “unprecedented times.”

    Deep Spring Center
    Thought for Today

    We do not state with an initial ego intention, ‘I’m going to save the world,’ but rather we start with the loving intention to see how we can dance with others and with the Earth and with spirit to co-create deeper peace and well-being for all sentient beings. We invite ourselves to be open and listen, to be guided, rather than having the ego dictate, ‘No, it should be this way.’ When you do this you find there truly are no limitations.

    We need the comfort
    and solace
    of each other’s
    presence!
    ~ Joan Borysenko

  • Make May Day a Mask Day

    Today is May Day.
    It is a day to hang flowers
    on the door of someone you love.

    In 1886, more than 300,000 workers walked off their jobs demanding 13,000 businesses honor an 8-hour work day on May Day.

    We know the value of doing something that benefits another. And we value doing what benefits us. Making May Day 2020 a Mask Day is a way of doing both.

    The Task of the Mask

    Beneath the mask, beyond the persona,
    beside your humanity is your true divine nature
    My friend died last week
    she went into the hospital with acute pancreatitis
    Her final ride home was on the coronavirus

    People keep asking
    if the masks are necessary
    They think they
    or the ones they love to touch
    Are surely free from COVID-19

    Another friend wore her mask
    while the plumber came to plumb
    But she did not ask him to
    protect her from his exposure
    I once hit a dog, driving home in the dark

    Would that plumber sadly feel
    remorse—a lifetime of guilt
    Were he without malice aforethought
    to have left the grim reaper running amok?
    He thought he came to help

    One simple “No,” fueled by true compassion
    is an act of wisdom and kindness for all
    I said “No,” when asked if I would consider
    coming to the cemetery or funeral home
    Doing a short ceremony for my beloved friend

    “Let’s wait and do a memorial together,
    really honoring her”

    Let’s wait
    Let’s not waste a moment
    Each time you act from wisdom
    and compassion
    You are revealing your divinity

    Debra Basham May 1, 2020 (WC 190)

    We may not be able to hang flowers in person on the door of every person we love today, but we can make this May Day a Make-a-Mask day.

    Making a no-sew sock mask is easy!


    Let me know if you would like to see the little video instructions.

    Is the task of the mask necessary? You can bet your sweet life on it….

  • We Are What We Think

    It is surreal that I posted my previous blog just yesterday. I did say this self-selected social isolation may not last forever, it may just feel that way.

    Actually, I don’t really mind the solitude. Last evening Barbara Brodsky asked our Dharma Path group to notice how very little is different about this from retreat, which we all love.

    Well, one difference is that on retreat we have no news.

    The Awakened Heart group was asked to ponder these points:

    1. Please reflect on some ways you are able to ground yourselves in Love even with the fears and other emotions brought forth by Covid-19.

    2. How can we each become a true power of Love in our present world, offering the expressions of Love to help release suffering?

    3. “We are what we think; with our thoughts we make the world.” (Dhammapada)

    4. What if the whole world were to shift from negative, fear-based thoughts about this virus, into a strong, clear compassion?

    5. How does our practice help?

    6. How to we practice with fear and anxiety?

    Aaron says a high vibration makes your energy field like Teflon, so the virus is unable to stick.

    People Quarantined in Italy Join Together In Song From Balconies During Coronavirus Lockdown.


    In California they are calling it “safe sheltering.” One friend said they scheduled a noon concert on their street. They arranged a playlist and everyone came out on their porches and played their instruments.

    I am going to suggest virtual playing of “Farkle/10,000” with friends Linda and Larry. We can each have our set of five dice and we can be on FaceTime or Zoom for the game. Like safe sex, it is a game where everyone wins….

    We are what we think. With out minds we make the world.

    Let’s get creative to see how many ways you can find to keep joy and fun and lightheartedness alive to balance the inconvenience and fear.

  • Upekka

    You have heard it said to be careful what you pray for. This past Tuesday evening, as our Dharma “Path of Clear Light” class was coming to an end, I asked for specific instructions around the practice of Upekka. Upekka is the Buddhist practice of equanimity.

    John Orr’s clarification of the Upekka practice, “All beings are heirs to their own karma. A person’s happiness or unhappiness is not dependent upon me but on their own actions and choices,” resulted in Barbara Brodsky’s offering thanks for him reminding her to keep that in mind related to her husband, Hal.

    Nothing in the teachings John shared, or Barbara’s comments, totally prepared me for the next few days of interactions with friends and clients.

    People are navigating every one of the eight worldly conditions: loss and gain, good-repute and ill-repute, praise and censure, sorrow and happiness.

    To practice Upekka is to be unwavering or to stay neutral in the face of each of these.

    The “far enemy” of Upekka is greed and resentment, mind-states in obvious opposition. The “near enemy” (the quality which superficially resembles upekka but which subtly opposes it), is indifference or apathy.

    “Do you want me to just be present with you or would it be helpful for me to offer some sort of process?” breath barely audible on either end of the phone.

    Skating on thin ice.

    Having been reading Rupert Spira’s work on nondual awareness, I pretty quickly notice the subtle grasping, the habit energy of not wanting those I care about to suffer.

    “Many of our ideas and beliefs about ourselves and the world are so deeply ingrained that we are unaware that they are beliefs and take them, without question, for the absolute truth.” ~ Rupert Spira

    The ground beneath my feet is shifting.

    “The discovery that peace, happiness and love are ever-present within our own Being, and completely available at every moment of experience, under all conditions, is the most important discovery that anyone can make.” ~ Rupert Spira

    Timing is everything.

    Richard Bandler says the best way to help a poor person is to not be poor.

    I grab the Daily Recollection and finger my mala while reading the 53rd through the 55th beads:

    I remember the practice of sati (presence):
    To be present with the breath.
    To be present with the proper object as it presents itself.
    To be present with the proper attitude: Whatever arises, I will not fixate on it. I will let my mind be free and spacious, resting in pure awareness.

    “The greatest discovery in life is to discover that our essential nature does not share the limits nor the destiny of the body and mind.” ~ Rupert Spira

    I add to Upekka the practice of Metta (lovingkindness), Karuna (compassion), and Mudita (sympathetic joy).

    I remember the great prayer: May all beings be free from suffering. May all beings feel joy. May all beings realize their intrinsic perfection and find perfect peace.