Insight's on life

We all want life to be miraculous, and it is. We pray for miracles, seek miracles, listen to stories about miracles, and think miracles will happen someday in the future, or happened thousands of years ago. So few realize that the great miracle is happening in our lives, right now. It is necessary to simply wake up, so we can see the miracle in front of our eyes, give thanks and live with it wholeheartedly.

Centuries ago, a physician, faced daily with death and suffering, sought out the guidance of a famous Zen Master, living quietly, inaccessible, in a mountain hut. The physician climbed the mountain, searched for the hut, and after many days, found him raking leaves at the side of his tiny house. The teacher did not look up when the student arrived, but kept raking slowly.

"I have come to understand the essence of life," the physician proclaimed.

The Zen Master looked up for a moment, his eyes piercing the student.

"Go home and be kind to your patients," the Master replied. "That is it."

There is an idea that I love. It suggests that people emerge out of planet Earth in the same way that leaves emerge from trees.

I like to view the great spiritual teachers in this way. They were not transported in from some other star system or dimension, but also emerged from Earth. Christ and Buddha, Mary and Kuan Yin, emerged as examples of humanity's fulfilled potential for compassion and consciousness.

One of the most common and recurring religious themes is that humanity will be saved and brought to its next stage of evolution through the appearance of a yet another great prophet or world teacher. In Christianity, Christ will come again. In Buddhism, the Maitreya Buddha will incarnate. In Judaism, the Messiah. In Islam, the Imam Mahdi. And across the new age movement, there are all kinds of prophesies about new gurus, avatars and interventions.

All over the world, there exists a simple precept that, when followed, has the power to end conflict and banish strife.

It is the Golden Rule, a key concept in many philosophies and spiritualities that admonishes us to "do unto others as we would have them do unto us."

Its meaning is clear: treat others only in ways that you would want to be treated.

However, the golden rule is not always easy to follow. It can be a challenge to honor others as we wish to be honored. Yet, when we do so, we bestow a gift of loving kindness on our fellow human beings. And, in honoring others, we honor ourselves.

It is as uncomplicated a tenet as one could wish for. When we live by it, harming another person becomes nearly impossible.

The Golden Rule is rooted in pure empathy and does not compel us to perform any specific act. Rather, it gently guides us to never let our actions toward others be out of harmony with our own desires.

Most people are afraid of love because they are afraid of their deepest joy and inner freedom.

In relationship, we must reach a place where being honest and being true to yourself is more important than the survival of the relationship ! Let me illustrate this using Stendhal's and Roland's seven stages of a love relationship :