Occupy Your Heart

Can Occupy Wall Street succeed? It can, if it continues to place generosity and compassion before greed, and to recognize the power of interdependence, causality and selflessness.

— Roshi Joan Halifax and Maia Duerr

What the Heart Asks...

What the heart asks of us is always simple, singular and straightforward (though seldom easy). It asks us to take an uncompromising look at our own shortcomings, rationalizations, and projections. It asks us, in whatever situation we find ourselves, to live from our highest aspirations and vision of who we could be if we would be who we are. It asks us to always remove the log from our own eye, before we try to take the speck from our brother’s eye. Our heart is happy in bringing happiness to another, is more satisfied by seeing another satisfied with food than oneself, and is comfortable in seeing another person comfortable. The heart gives all that it contains to the deserving and undeserving alike, as the the sun shines and the rain falls upon all. And ultimately asks for the most radical sacrifice: “to love our enemies, bless those that curse us, do good to those that hate us, and pray for those that persecute us.”

djm 11/4/08

"Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything."

~ Muhammad Ali ~