March 12, 2011, 10am
Orgyen Hermitage, N.Z.

As you may have heard there has been a huge earthquake in Japan accompanied by catastrophic tsunamis.  We have had word from Doug Sensei and John Munroe that our sangha friends there are okay.  Right now, less that 24 hours since the earthquake struck, the situation in parts of Japan is dire.  Our hearts and empathy go to everyone there.

Here in New Zealand, folks in Christchurch and increasingly throughout the country, are still moving with aftershocks, geological, social and economic, propelled into depth of being and becoming that few would voluntarily ask for, yet is life affirmingly real.

Please look around you.  Everything you see is alive – this living dharma.  Everything you see is extraordinarily delicate, ephemeral and unique.  Look deeply into that leaf, that child, that neighbor, that cricket, that bird on the fence and that mould growing on the edge of the compost bucket.  Whatever you see, it involves a whole universe of growing and supporting.  Worlds of lived experience interbeing with worlds of living otherness.  We shape each other.  We live for, and with, and in, and through each other, and still, our understanding is so meager.  Breathe for a few moments opening into that extraordinary place of receptivity and silent waiting.  Allow your grief, your awe, your sense of wonderment and reverence to bless you with nameless grace.  Then touch that leaf, that child, that neighbor, that cricket, bird and mould, with love and gratitude.  We are alive – and we live for each other.

may we all unfold together in love
with warm good wishes
Tarchin and Mary