Dear friends,
There is no need for me to tell you we are living in challenging times.
Some causes of concern that immediately come to mind are the changing political landscape across the world,
The extent of human suffering these days,
How we face environmental challenges,
Not to mention the ethical questions arising from the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
We live in enormously consequential times,
Filled,
As everything is,
With huge possibilities,
Both positive and negative.
The question is,
How do we respond to the challenges of our times?
Who do we look to for guidance?
This is what we will consider in this meditation,
After a one-minute pause to allow ourselves to become present.
Breathing in the good air of possibilities,
Pausing for a second or two,
And then breathing out thoughts of love and kindness for a better tomorrow.
Welcome back.
Many of us will recall the wonderful and well-quoted poem by Robert Frost,
The Road Not Taken,
Which is now in the public domain.
As just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear.
Though as for that,
The passing there had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay,
In leaves no step had trodden black.
O,
I kept the first for another day,
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh,
Somewhere ages and ages hence.
Two roads diverged in a wood,
And I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
The words of Robert Frost.
This poem reminds us of the moment-to-moment decisions each of us face as we go through life.
We are each offered a world of possibility,
And with that choice,
The need to figure out what way to go.
Imagine yourself standing at a crossroads,
Uncertain of what to do next.
In a way,
As we live through the challenges of today,
We are,
Each of us,
At a crossroads of decision-making.
What should we do,
If we want,
As we all want,
To be agents of good in the world?
Right now you might feel a little discomfort,
A little lost,
A little fearful,
Maybe.
Many of us are unsure as to how to respond when we are faced with an inundation of news.
There is a simple and helpful way of coming to a wise and moral choice.
In these moments,
All you have to do is pause to consider what would your wisest guide advise you to do.
You stop to ask yourself this before you open your mouth and before you take any action.
You ask your guide to guide you.
Who is your guide?
We each have one,
At least.
Let's have a one-minute pause to consider who we will look to for guidance as we navigate our way through the world today.
Welcome back again.
So,
Who is your guide?
Jesus?
The Buddha?
Moses?
Muhammad?
And so many others.
Religious teachers?
Philosophers?
Humanist guides?
Indigenous people?
And many modern voices promoting hope and justice?
So,
Who is your guide?
And what do you think your guide suggests you should do,
Or not do?
What would your guide suggest you say,
Or not say?
In other words,
What would your guide do and say if he or she was living in the world right now?
Living in the world today,
And facing the challenges we face.
Of one thing we can be certain,
The wise guide will not lead you astray.
Answers that might be put to you by your guide in your pause for mindful reflection.
What does love require of you?
Will this action bring suffering,
Or will it ease suffering?
What is the path of patience and perseverance?
Does this action serve truth and justice?
What is the wisest,
Kindest choice I can make?
Does this action cultivate harmony?
Am I flowing with the way of life,
Or am I resisting it?
Am I being the best version of myself?
Each of these questions invites us to pause before we act.
It encourages us to take a breath,
Count to ten if you will,
Stop momentarily and reflect on the possible consequences of what you are about to say or do.
We all know from personal experience how we can be wrong,
How we can operate on autopilot,
Coming up with an instant solution,
Reacting with the discouraging word,
Going along with unhelpful gossip and pointless moaning.
Just think of the wonderful alternative that is open to us.
Stopping for just a few moments before we say or do something that we might regret later.
Asking our guide,
That person who represents for us the wisest,
Kindest being we can imagine.
Asking the guide what he or she would do and listening for the answer before we move on.
What a difference that would make for us.
What a difference that approach would make for the world.
If we could all learn to stop and ask our guide,
What should we do?
What is the right thing to do?
May you be blessed and may the world be blessed by the wise decision you will make following the advice of your guide.
Namaste
