In Eight Steps to Happiness Geshe-la says "'Self' and 'other' are relative terms, rather like 'this mountain' and 'that mountain ... 'This' and 'that' therefore depend upon our point of reference. This is also true of self and other. By climbing down the mountain of self, it is possible to ascend the mountain of other, and thereby cherish others as much as we presently cherish ourself."

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Learn to Yearn

I've been thinking for a while about the word "yearn," which Gen-la Dekyong uses a lot regarding attainments. Like "beseeching," it's an unusual word. Sometimes it helps to consult a dictionary: "to have an earnest or strong desire" or "to long persistently." OK, that's a start.

Today while reading the Sunday Review section of The New York Times, there was an article that used the Bruce Springsteen lyric about having a "hungry heart." (I'm a fan of his, being from Joisey and all, although I don't like to admit that's where I grew up; I did take his advice and make a run for it, all the way to the West Coast.) That's it! A hungry heart yearns.

I'll admit there have been times when I've been reciting the words in a prayer, thinking "that would be nice" but not really wishing strongly, much less wanting them more than anything. My prayers often need more "omph." We try to pray from the depths of our heart, but as I've said before, we're often praying from the shallows - just going through the motions, sometimes barely thinking about what we're saying.

We need to learn more about what we're asking for, so that we really want them, but it seems like we also need to learn how to yearn. Blessings seem to help deepen those requests, so that a virtuous cycle is created: Yearning for blessings leads to more blessings, which in turn increases the yearning as well as the blessings.

Why am I holding back? What would make me hungrier?
I'd say another obstacle is that we're so accustomed to being complacent. Because we tend to think of things as fixed, we struggle with believing such radical changes are possible. Sometimes I think we fear being naive, because being jaded and cynical or ironic is considered more hip.
We're so enmeshed in the ordinary, we forget to see beyond, to the extraordinary.

What are you yearning for?

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