Plain as day. If you look for it, if you are honest and true with what is really and truly important, then all we have is love. Love is the miracle that binds us. But you must also open your heart to see it clearly, for there is much suffering and pain too coming in tandem with this precious gift. All too many see this world through tinted spectacles of pain, need, aggression and endless desire. If you look for suffering and pain, this too you will easily find in grand abundance. In fact, the way we perceive ourselves is deeply connected with how we perceive this world around us - how much we can love one another will ultimately depend greatly on how much we can love ourselves. In Bodh Gaya we have both these extremes in direct reality, brutally formed, congealed and intertwined, a symbiotic relationship that cannot be undone. A multitude of wishes, an army of needs. Warmth and wisdom, poverty and pain. We must see them both. Why are we really here? To sit and pray only, I think not. To see the greatest joy we must also see the contrast of its suffering as well, the raw and tender truth can only be had by accepting them both as they are.
Take the face of Karmapa - simply by looking at him one can become exuberantly overwhelmed with love, compassion, and joy. His very presence communicates peace. Images of prayer, warm light, and smiles communicate joy and happiness too. But what about other less conventional examples of joy? On the faces of poor children, their families, brilliant sparkling eyes around crusted dirty cheeks, with their tattered clothes they seem to be happy beyond what you and I may be able to comprehend regardless of their monetary conditions. People who are perceived to have less in many ways have so much. Having more will never guarantee you anything except having more. Love is always present with less. When I see Karmapa, I am full of love beyond what I can comprehend. When I see these faces smiling back at me, standing in line to receive a blanket for the cold nights, I see love too. So much of it my heart wells up and bursts overflowing into my very being. I find great inspiration in these smiles looking back up at me, their eyes sparkle in a way I wish mine did as well. Love is all we have, and Love is everywhere. Gaya is full of love. On every street corner, under every leaf, with each passing haloed glow, love is everywhere. A child’s face, a dirty hand held tightly, Karmapa’s ever lasting compassionate gaze… everywhere. There is no difference. We must simply train ourselves to see it, to cherish it, to not waste it, to know that it is the most important and powerful thing we have in this world. To create a better world, a better life, a better everything… it must begin with love.
The Kagyu Monlam
