Dear friends,
Welcome to this blessing for Friday.
This is part of a series Sunday to Saturday,
Intended to offer you moments of encouragement as you go through your week.
These meditations all begin with a moment for quiet reflection,
And today I want to offer you a reminder of a sometimes neglected benefit of the way our minds work.
I'm told that we human beings find it difficult to concentrate on two things at the very same time.
So before the blessings for today,
I'd like you to simply concentrate on listening to the music.
That is today's way of bringing you into the present moment.
It's a reminder as well that we can use music at any time to change our mood.
It's difficult to maintain a negative attitude at the same time as we are listening to positive music.
So just a pause now for musical reflection.
May you be strong in your commitments without becoming hard and inflexible.
May you be open and receptive to other points of view.
May you be tender and caring without becoming overwhelmed,
Thinking carefully before responding to requests.
May you never be the person who always says no,
But neither should you be someone who always says yes.
May you use mindfulness to operate within your own capacity.
You will have heard it said that we should love our neighbour as ourselves,
But noting our tendency to retreat into self-love.
May you always keep in mind the importance of extending that love to your neighbour.
We keep the door of love open,
Recalling the five remembrances.
These we read in the Buddhist tradition.
1.
I am of the nature to grow old.
There is no way to escape growing old.
2.
I am of the nature to have ill health.
There is no way to escape having ill health.
3.
I am of the nature to die.
There is no way to escape death.
4.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change.
There is no way to escape being separated from them.
Number five of these five remembrances is a reminder to us in our day-to-day activities to be conscious of our actions.
In number five we are reminded,
My actions are my only true belongings.
I cannot escape the consequences of my actions.
My actions are the ground upon which I stand.
May the actions of your life be blessed by the practice of mindfulness.
Namaste.
