An Old Thought Resurrected

     While looking through some old flash-drives I ran across a folder containing this journaled moment in a meditation that seemed worthy of a late entry. The date is uncertain but I estimate it was made approximately 8 years ago when I moved to Southern Dharma and began journaling about many of my experiences. Dharma was my dog.

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      Yesterday I made the remark that Dharma had died so that I could  make this journey. And today, all of a sudden, I realized that this is exactly what Christians say about Christ. So I asked myself if I meant the same thing. Do I mean that Dharma knowingly, willingly, and with intent, caused or was instrumental, in getting a tumor so that I might move to the mountains?  No! Of course not; so what exactly do I mean by that?
     Well, I mean that her death made it easier for me to make this move; I couldn't take her with me, and my heart would not allow me to give her away. She was an active part of my life up to that time, and in fact, she was part of me. 
     Now what do I mean by that? In what way can a dog be a part of me? I guess I mean that because she was influential in my life, that she was a catalyst for me to change in numerous ways which helped me become the person I am today (however large or small a way that might be) - she has been an active influence in my life. In the same way that we might say that 'who we are is what we do' - or that 'what we think is who we are' -  then in a similar way, her effect on me makes her part of me. In some way we are the same; she is me. And, I suppose, I am her as well. (Though I’m still not totally clear on what that means right now, it feels accurate if not easily explained.) And I suppose the Christians can maintain in the same way, that if Jesus gave his life for them, then He is a part of them as well. I personally can not. But I can see, intellectually at least, how it might work for them.
  So, leaving all religious argument aside, it would seem that spiritually speaking, what I was meaning was that Dharma’s effect on my life makes her a part of my life; a part of me. This makes sense to me at some level beyond the merely intellectual. It seems to correspond with the idea that we are all connected in life - by life itself - even if we are talking about someone or some thing which is twice, x10, or a million times, removed. Regardless of time or distance, the idea is that everything is connected, and those people or things which are close enough in proximity to directly affect us, to make an impact on our existence, or to influence our lives in some way, are actually a large part of us through this impact.
     Now this does not make as much sense as it did when I was just thinking it, but it does bring me to the second thing I was thinking. If I look at a picture of Dharma, or Christ, or my parents, or anything that I see as being influential in me being where I am today, then I am honoring them, or it, by my being alive as I am today. And this is perhaps at least one meaning of, or reason for, an object on an alter. (Granted there are those who would find this overly simplistic and ridiculous, but it is one way of looking at it: one way it is meaningful to have something on an altar and talk to it or silently offer one’s gratitude.)
     Let me take this a step further. What about the cabbage I am preparing to eat? The breath of air I am about to take, or for that matter anything which I am about to make use of? Does this act not require, in the same way, a manner of gratitude to the cabbage or the air, for giving itself to us, to benefit us? I mean it seems to me that once again I can get caught in the word game and say that a cabbage can’t choose to give itself to me, or that it is just there for me to use (or if I really want to be Christian I can say that God put it there for me to use). Let’s forget this mind game where we give responsibility to God and, for a moment think about this as a new idea - a new meaning for "a sense of connection." The idea that perhaps the cabbage may be here for me but also, that I am here for the cabbage as well – this is interesting. 
     Perhaps the Buddhist idea of "skillful means" in this instant can refer to the fact that the cabbage, the air, or anything we put our proverbial hands on in this life are affected for good or ill by our actions. Now our decisions with regard to these issues, and our subsequent actions, are personal. Each of us must make our own decisions as to how we are to proceed in life. But it seems to me that the manner in which we grow our crops will affect the cabbage on our table, the decisions we make about our air will have a direct effect on our health and the health of future generations. What the cabbage can give to us depends upon what we give to it, and it is no less true that the air can only give us what we give to it. This is the interconnectedness to which I speak. Dharma gave me a gift - her life - that I might more easily move to where I am and to honor that gift I find myself incumbent upon giving her, in my life, the gift of passing on her teachings to others.

     We are one with all things and they with us. Therefore it makes sense to honor those things we use, or take from the natural world, as the Native Americans have done. It seems like a reasonable idea all of a sudden, to say “thank you” before we eat the food in front of us, or simply take a moment to be mindful of where it came from and how we are connected to it. Not to a God that gives, but to the process by which we are sustained in this life. Perhaps we are actually all here to be used by one another – plant, animal, and human alike – and all must act and accept, according to that imperative. When the unknown virus devours human life or a natural calamity swallows a whole city in the middle of the night, we will then be the food for life. Perhaps it is only through "skillful means’" and a practice of gratitude that we can find true peace amid this truth.