Suffering

We all will or have lost someone or something we care deeply about. We will all greive to a depth we can't possibly prepare for. We suffer. The Buddha claimed that he taught suffering and how to cease suffering and that was all - the very essence of his teaching. A worthy agenda in his times and ours. The Buddha claimed that we suffer only because we cling to what is inherently transient. Eveything must pass and yet despite the knowing truth of this statement - we still suffer for our hold on all that passes. The Buddha wnet on to teach a way out of suffering - his Noble Path - and this way has stood the test of time for over two thousand years now. Jesus Christ taught another through the salvation of forgivness. In forgivness we find an openness that alows these transient things to pass through while still cherishing them in their passing (as does Buddhism) Both paths (and others) share common threads and each also has methods unique to their path alone. The end goal remains the same - letting go. I have seldom regretted the things I have let go when their time has come - and I have always regretted holding on to things that have reached the point of letting go. I wish I was wiser and could claim even a slight level of mastery of this. But I haven't. And life gives more and more to aid our practice. Perhaps I'll get it - perhaps I'll reach and hold and cherish deeply all that life to offer, and then with grace and open palms, I'll offer my release. Perhaps. Yet until then I offer my forgiveness - to myself and my heart that grasps and clings to others, and to the world with all it's pain and sorrows. May this forgiveness bring sight that see the world in all its deeper beauty.