Transformation Often Radiates from the Simplest of People

Many of the wisest humans have not been people of great fame and power or leaders of vast numbers of followers. Much of the profound healing and transformation that takes place in any age emanates from people who are not known for great abilities or miraculous deeds. Great compassion and transformation often radiate from the simplest of people, those whose lives embody love and truth.

There is a great truth in the statement, “If you want to know a Zen master, you must ask his or her spouse.” We are known through our most personal actions, our care, our words, and our feelings. Living in inner harmony and peace means including every thought and action in the living expression of that harmony and peace. Those rooted in true wisdom and compassion feel no need to proclaim it from a pedestal. They know that the only meaningful way to live is to enact the spirit of love and wisdom every day in every way.

We are moved by the stories of great sages and spiritual masters because they are living examples of a profound wisdom that we can also sense in ourself. They have discovered how to find a great calm amongst chaos, how to greet conflict and disrespect with forgiveness and acceptance. They live a life of profound faith in the midst of suspicion and doubt. Their mission is not to impose their truths upon others but to live in accord with the truths they have come to understand to express that inner harmony in every area of their lives.

It is said that one of the greatest miracles in spiritual life is a change of heart/a change of consciousness – this change occurs through first awakening and then through the process of transformation and transfiguration. When people say they are grateful for the Teaching, this means to me that their life has a sense of direction. That they live a life filled with principle and virtue. They practice forgiveness and understanding. It is not how much they know it is how they put their knowledge into their day-to-day lives. This is how a student gives respect to his Teacher and to the Teaching. It is not by proclaiming how long they “have been in the Teaching” or how many books they have on their shelves…those who show gratitude to the Teaching are those who live it.

For example, a very simple example, we embody the Teaching through the way we treat our neighbors, our families, our communities, our country and environment and ourselves. The power of our heart is contagious, the spirit of being awake and conscious is contagious. If we wish to have inner and outer peace, we must be peace; if we wish to have love in this world, we must be love. Our children, friends, and co-workers will most benefit when we are a brother or sister to them, bringing our minds and hearts, our integrity and wakefulness when we are together.

Remember in last week’s blog where I wrote that when Gandhi was asked if he had any message for the world, he said, “My life is my message.” If you are bringing the Teaching to the world by being living examples of the Teaching…what is your message?

It is said about a brother – that when he had concluded weaving his baskets and put handles on them, he heard a monk next door saying: What shall I do? The trader is coming but I don’t have handles to put on my baskets! The Basket weaver took the handles off his own baskets and brought them to the monk saying: Look I have these left over. Why don’t you put them on your baskets? He made his brother’s work complete, as there was need, leaving his own unfinished.” (Desert Fathers)

This is the example of living the Teaching; it is an example of being the Teaching, of giving respect to our Teachers who gave so much to us; do you see? The basket weaver didn’t first serve himself and then another – he engaged in sacrificial service by forgetting himself to help another.

It is said that soon after His enlightenment, the Buddha passed a man on the road who was struck by the extraordinary radiance and peacefulness of his presence. The man stopped and asked, “My friend, what are you? Are you a celestial being or a god?”

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“Well, then, are you some kind of magician or wizard?”

Again the Buddha answered, “No.”

“Are you a man?”

“No.”

“Well, my friend, what then are you?”

The Buddha replied, “I am awake.”

Are you living the Teaching? Does your life exemplify respect for the Teaching? Are you awake?