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Dear Cleveland Buddhist Temple Sangha,
Some of you live close enough that we gather in person to share the Buddha Dharma. Others, who read the Buddha Post in places that stretch around the earth, have written to request they be considered part of the Cleveland Buddhist Sangha. To all of you, please accept my deepest gratitude for your continued desire to walk this path together, as a Sangha.
I first set foot in the Cleveland Buddhist Temple in December 1979. My journey was on again off again over many years. Yet, something always beckoned me to return. During those years, now that I look back, life was good but I didn’t see it. Yes, there was sickness, old age and death of loved ones – that does not change. And yes, at one point inflation was almost 18%, we were reacting to and learning how to cope with AIDS, the computer was coming into its own, and yes, we had wars.
It must have been in the early 90s, that the November/December issue of the CBT newsletter included this New Year greeting. I cut it out and saved it all these years, taped to my desk.
Its words seem so simple…
Regret not the past
Anticipate not that which has not arisen
Be not anxious over that which has happened
As long as one lives the present usefully
He shall be happy, in body and spirit.
And yet, so hard to put into practice. It has been slow progress over the years that I have come to understand the truthfulness of this New Year greeting.
In order to release ourselves from dukkha and awaken to peace, may we all learn not to regret the past, not anticipate a future that hasn’t occurred, not be anxious over things that haven’t happened, and, live this day with wisdom and compassion for our self and one another.
Namo Amida Butsu
In gassho
Rev. Anita
rev.anit.cbt@outlook.com
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