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Foundations of Self-Healing and Contemplative Life, Fall 2012
Foundations of Self-Healing and Contemplative Life, Fall 2012
Foundations of Self-Healing and Contemplative Life, Fall 2012
which he was raised. This leave taking that is so much a part of the path for those seeking to break free
from the merry-go-round of a non-contemplative life may be essential but it is not without its costs. The
Buddhas reluctance was the residual aftermath of the seed that he sowed into his own consciousness,
the ripening of a deeply seeded sense of abandonment and the need to go it alone. Perhaps recognizing
that he was enlightened, putting him squarely in the ranks of a minority of the few, maybe the only one in
the world at that time, could have exacerbated his sense of alienation and aloneness that was a result of
his own process of leave taking. It may have been necessary, but the axiomatic dimension of the fourth
aspect of karma is that he must have had to experience the inescapable results of the seeds that were
sown. This was his last and greatest test; where the rubber met the road. To overcome the gnawing sense
that he was alone and disconnected, to recognize it and make another choice, exemplifies the tangible
capacity for humans to experience the results of karma but knowingly and consciously create a new path
in spite of those deeply held convictions that may cross into the rubric of not only belief but a sense of
inherent self-existence. Reflecting the milieu in which he was born, the axial age, it was this moment that
was truly pivotal. His story is not a story, but rather the story; our story. It would have been totally
understandable if he had remained silent, opting to remain in a state of self-protection and isolated
safety. His belief that others simply wouldnt care enough or be safe enough to share in the gifts of
insight he had to offer must have been palpable given his history. The greatest gift he offered was not
really the framework or map to help us navigate through the nefarious shoals of samsaric existence but
his pivotal decision to speak, his application, his role modeling example, the humanness he possessed
and his cultivated capacity to turn the wheel of dharma in a direction that defied his own predilections and
bias that literally changed his world and ours in an incalculable and extraordinary way.
I am reminded of the words of Rumi, that are like cold waters to a tired soul, Come, come, whoever you
are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even
if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.