To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life;
foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.—Buddha
When dealing with grief as we are this weekend, people come together who have become diligent. The temporal nature of ‘things’, of people, our health and yes, youth and old age, all pass by and our self awareness is always watching. We can often forget that and get caught up in dramas that lead nowhere.
People who have died and are brought back (at least 8 million in the United States), return with a perspective that is actually is taught by Jesus when he ‘spoke’ his ‘Sermon-on-the-Mount; everything is turned upside down. When we realize that nothing can be clung to, it can bring a change in what we believe is important.
What do we take with us when we die? The people that are talked about in this retreat who have died are missed because they imparted life to others. What they are remembered for is not their wealth, or if they looked 30 when they died at 75, no they talked about qualities of love, kindness, compassion and the ability to simply be there for others.
Sometimes all that people leave behind is pain and regret for their loved ones because a deep connection was never made. Death is the great leveler, the rich and the poor, the famous and most of us who are unknown, we all must face what our lives have become, what we have created with our free choices. In the NDE’s we face all that we did and have become, though we are not alone, what accompanies us is love, helping us get through what they call “the life review”.
We have one life, a limited time to grow into something beautiful, lovely, loving and compassionate, or we can grow into someone who is controlling, selfish and who cares only for themselves and their career. All the latter is emptiness in the end…..for what we take with us, the coin of the other world is ‘love’. Faith and hope will one day disappear, but love, never.
Br. Mark Dohle, OCSO
Holy Spirit Monastery
