Releasing the Stones of Suffering

I woke this morning at 4am to the sound of a cranky bobcat on the other shore, so I slipped outside and sat on the dock and watched the night sky turn to pinks and blues. The great blue herons chortle to each other behind me while the morning fox arrives across the river and casually sniffs out the shoreline.

The theme for me these days has been impermanence…

It seems in order to really appreciate life we have to be willing to let it go over and over, but the difficulty is that as humans we tend to cling. We cling to our stuff, to each other, to our emotions. We wear our identities as a badge, staking claim on whatever - and whoever - we believe is rightfully ours.

But it is that exact clinging that causes us pain. We hold onto our "stuff" until our fingers bleed, raw in the belief that holding on will set us free.

I see the fear…the fear of death, the fear of loss, the fear of aloneness. So many of us think if we hold on tight enough to the people and things around us we will be safe, but the truth is we end up doing the reverse. In all our grasping we inadvertently collect the stones of suffering. It's like placing burden upon burden into a burlap sack. Rather than just celebrating the feeling of being alive, we devote ourselves to hauling our load and protecting our heavy wares.

I don't know much, but I do know the sound of the osprey as she calls out to her friends.I know the delight I feel as the river ripples, reflecting light in emeralds and blues. I know the joy of watching people truly be themselves, liberated momentarily from the desire to possess…and I know the sweet, delicate sensation of release when I put down my own heavy sack of desires and become grateful for it all.

May all beings learn to release their pain, to play like the foxes, dive like the osprey, and sing like the songbirds on the other shore.

Sending love to you all.

Becky Magnolia

June 19, 2022