Perspective, 1/31/07

I'm reading An Open Heart based on the teachings of Buddhism and the Dalai Lama. It's been an interesting read. I've studied Eastern religions in the past and enjoy the common elements with Christianity. What has been particularly interesting is the global connectedness that he promotes and the intellectual drawing down into the deepening relationship to the teachings. It is a spiritual and intellectual awakening as step by step the layers are revealed and referenced to life experiences. It is a process, not a destination. Practice, practice, practice.

As I sat on the plane from Salt Lake, looking out the through the window, I was treated to brilliant sunshine with a cloud layer just below. White wispy cotton candy strands of clouds, through which I could glimpse the earth. It was glorious: the mountainous terrain resembled strewn fabric whiskered with trees. Snow draped some but not all surfaces. This is God's view, I thought. How pleased He must be. It was so serene and beautiful.

How much difference perspective makes in the journey. The hiker who is lost on that quiet and majestic peak does not share that view. The bird views a simple and beautiful world of possibilities. It does not know to ask more. Even the people in the rows ahead are focused on their drink or their book or listening to music and are turned away from the window. The moment slips by. Does it really matter? No. The sky will still sparkle above the clouds, the north side of the mountains will still have snow, the river currents will still run, even if no one is there to gain from it. But it matters to me. Me being there is incidental to those things, but it opens my heart and sets my imagination afire. I want to attain and maintain a perspective that includes appreciation and humility from the inside out. I want to try perspectives on for size, walk around and stretch myself, explore.

Note to self: focus and be present. Lean into the sharp part of the stick, as Pema Chodrin describes, to see/try/do. Transition through an issue and emerge with the lesson in hand. Save myself the heartache of the same issue popping up in continual loops. What lesson will I learn today, I wonder, and what perspective will I take?

NMcC