LIFE IS A DIVINE BLESSING
“This is the paradox: life breaks us, yet in doing so, it opens us.”
Life is a divine blessing, though we often lose sight of this truth because of conditioning, trauma, and the weight of our experiences. The burdens we carry—physical, emotional, and mental—can make us forget this gift until we have a moment of grace. Sometimes, these moments come unexpectedly, like a glimpse of pure love, the innocent gaze of a baby, a stunning sunset, or the quiet beauty of a mountaintop. In such instances, something within us breaks open, and we see past our defenses, even if just for a moment, to remember that life is a gift.
This breaking open isn’t a sign of failure but an invitation to remember. When life hurts and challenges us, it’s easy to see it as breaking us down. But this breaking is often a way for us to open more fully, a chance to feel deeply and allow life to flow through us, wounds and all. The pain, sorrow, and brokenness don’t take away from life’s blessing; they’re woven into it. This is the paradox: life breaks us, yet in doing so, it opens us.
If we can stay connected to this understanding, even lightly, something within us shifts. We start to see blessings in all experiences, even the difficult ones. Each moment brushes against our hearts, tenderly reminding us of the divine gift of life. Holding this knowing, life becomes an opportunity to feel the touch of the divine in every experience.
Let us just sit here In the darkness of the night Without trying to change anything Slowly the dawn will come And clear out all the shadows. ------------------------- Without rain The earth is parched And dies Without embracing sorrow We dry up And become all mind And no heart There is no love in this. ----------------------- You are not on a path You ARE the path On which God walks Through form, as form If you could get yourself Out of the way for a while You would see clearly The difference between Your imagination And the reality. ------------------------ There is a grace within us Only found when we fall inside Into the silence and stillness Although the falling may cause Some distress at first By and by the beauty of existence Is revealed And a grace without words Is known. ------------------------ Don’t think the garden is lost to you It is inside, alive and well And forever waiting for your return. ---------------------- Carry sorrow and joy With great equanimity And do not seek to end them The flower of your being Will emit a great fragrance Of compassion. ---------------------- Even in the mud The lotus may shine Between the cracks A tender flower grows And in times of tyranny A loving gesture A word of comfort An act of compassion A look of kindness Becomes a doorway Through which love is remembered. ---------------------- Live with heart wide open And mind in service to that openness We are born to serve love But in our error we serve mind. ---------------------- (EMBRACE) THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE. Sometimes I am a bird Soaring through the vast heavens Watching the human drama From on high Other times I am a fish A deep water fish Feeling the pressure Looking up at the waves As they crash upon the shore Often I find myself stretched As though pulled by many forces Carrying the paradox Of being in the sky, in the ocean And in the human world At the same time Now and then I am on the cross Crucified by the world Invited to give up all resistance Again and again and again This openness is no cold, sterile place It is not safe or shielded from the human experience It is raw, real, true and undefended It is all experience and all suffering Yet none of it at all Ah! the sheer measure of this existence Who can really describe it.
A break between sessions at our Borden Retreat in July.
A video:
Beautiful, Kavi….and thank you 🙏🏼