search blog posts
the play of opposites
Darkness is not the absence of light. Fear is not the absence of love. They are both contained within each other. Like the Chinese yin/yang symbol, there is darkness in the light, and there is light in the darkness. Our mission is not to abolish the darkness, but rather to balance it, for it is through darkness that we appreciate the brilliance of the light.
The mud & the lotus
In Buddhism, there is a story about the lotus and the mud. The lotus must rise up out of the muck of the mud to blossom in the light of the day. The mud is equivalent to the parts of ourselves that are "sticky." We all have habits of thought and behavior that don't serve our higher purpose. We all have parts of ourselves that we try to hide. Our practice can help us to rise up out of our contracted, suffering selves, stuck in the illusion of separateness and unworthiness, and to connect to our basic goodness.