" Suffering ... "

“ ... Let's sit back and relax and get comfortable

Now close your eyes, now make it right

I've got my mind set at ease

Don't you know it's you why you're suffering?

You're why you're suffering

I've got my reasons to live

Don't you know it's you why you're suffering?

You're why you're suffering ... “

~ Rebelution ~ Suffering ~

***

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to participate in a transformational event ... the Medicine Buddha Empowerment and Healing Retreat.  Bright-eyed and curious, my beautiful girlfriends and I, received empowerment by our teacher, learned how to apply the teachings of the Medicine Guru ... and prayed and chanted and prayed and chanted and prayed and ...  The retreat in itself is what you make of it ... whether those who attended were there for relief from their own mental or physical illness, or their loved ones ... our intentions were pure and our faith was fed.

And when attending a three day session like this one, you hope that one, two or more little morsels of wisdom you hear will find a place somewhere within you.  Allowing you to take the time you need to process and see if it resonates within you.  The beauty is that these morsels pop up like little clouds of inspiration, just when you need them ... our inner voice, our inner sense, our inner knowing ... 

“ ... Tibetan doctors rely on Medicine Buddha for their healings. Regular practice with the Medicine Buddha also empowers one with powers to heal others. In China and Japan, Medicine Buddha is a refuge in times of illness. Around the world, literally millions call out the name or mantra of Bhaisajyaguru (भैषज्यगुरु). It is even written in the sutras that if you speak the name of the Medicine Buddha in the ears of a dying animal or human they will be ensured good rebirth regardless of their past karma ... “

From the Buddhists perspective, illness is part of life, not the cause of your death.  Those words in themselves, for me personally, were profound.  From my own journey it is about finding the courage ... with determination ... to make a breakthrough, and I fully understand that doesn’t mean I’ll be saved from death by cancer.  

Personally it is about having a constructive attitude.  Because the cancer in this body I call mine in this lifetime has provided a doorway to give thought about my death, and to reflect on my life thus far.  I am learning that by using the “suffering” of this ill-ness, I come face to face with some of the deepest issues of life ... and death.  

“ ... Aside from visualizing and mantra recitation, a common healing practice is to chant 108 of Medicine Buddha’s mantras over a glass of water. The chanter, preferably one who has chanted the mantra in regular practice, then blows on the water and offers it to a sick person. The empowered water has healing powers. The patient can also be requested to speak the name of the Buddha 108 times, or chant the mantra, or read the sutras, or just to gaze up on a loving picture of the Medicine Buddha. Many miraculous cures have been attributed to the Medicine Buddha. Tibetan doctors tend to begin each day with Medicine Buddha practice, and when making herbal medicines chant the Mantras while working to further empower their medicinal benefits ... “

When we think of suffering, we think we must stop it, it is bad, it is painful, it is harmful.  Yet what if we view suffering as a fuel of wisdom, opening the way to happiness.  So maybe illness and suffering isn’t all that bad ... said that blogger living with cancer, who has NOT lost her mind, not just yet anyhow ;)

Putting this into perspective, how you cope with your illness will determine how well you live your life.  Rather than making excuses for what you have been “diagnosed” with ... start with ACCEPTANCE.  When you begin to accept your illness, you open yourself up to seeing what’s really on your plate, a process which takes time.

Acceptance lives in the present moment.  Little by little as you accept your illness, what IS, you cope a little better.  And then that little better gets a little more better, and a little more better, and a little more better ...

Illness, like everything in life, changes.  Whatever new effect you are facing today, different from yesterday, stretches you and your ability to adapt.  And for those that believe, this is the ripening of your negative karma, the path to enlightenment.  Perhaps an uncomfortable subject for some, others, it gives it purpose, to understand why not this suffering is happening to me.

The wake up call ... the new lease on life ... the second chance ... 

Those that suffer, really suffer, reading this may laugh at the mere concept of seeing that suffering can be a blessing.  A karmic blessing.  Because they are conditioned to see what they see ... physical distortions, mental anguish and spiritual disarray.  What have you got to lose ... to change the anger, hatred and distress towards joy, peace and clarity.  Trust not just a dream, fully possible from what I experienced this past retreat.  You see, the outcome may be what is destined to be, but the journey can be embraced with gratitude, in each and every moment ... by deciding what this suffering means to you.

I express infinite gratitude for the 

realizations, transformations and blessings shared and received ...

Medicine Buddha mantra

Tayata Om Bekanze Bekanze 

Maha Bekanze Radza 

Sumudgate Soha

" St. Patrick's day ... "

In the dark on the phone 

You tell me the names of your brothers 

And your favorite colors 

I'm learning you  ...

Everybody it seems to me that 

Just like to be 

Just like you and me ...

If our always is all that we gave 

And we someday take that away 

I'll be alright if it was just 'til St. Patrick's day

~ John Mayer ~ St. Patrick’s day ~ 

***

The Day of the Festival of Patrick ... Saint Patrick’s Day, the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland.  

Named after Saint Patrick, this day was made official by Christians in the early seventeenth century.  Primarily observed by the Catholic Church, this day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland in the fifth century.  Yet for most of us, we celebrate with parades, festivals, wearing green attire and shamrocks.

And although the original colour associated with SP was blue, over the years the colour green and its association with SPD grew.

Green, my favorite color, a healing color ...

So what inspired the shamrock and associated designs on this day?  Well Saint Patrick is said to have used a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish.  The phrase “the wearing of the green” means to wear a shamrock on one’s clothing.  So along with the religious symbols include snakes, serpents, harps, the Celtic cross ... most of us identify with the mythological creature known as the leprechaun and a pot of gold that the leprechaun keeps hidden ... 

And so on SPD around the world when some people indulge in Irish inspired spirits and foods, others plan a pilgrimage to St Patrick’s Purgatory.  This is commonly associated with penance and spiritual healing since the early 13th century.  “It is on Station Island in Lough Derg in County Donegal where St Patrick had a vision promising that all who came to the sanctuary in penitence and faith would receive a pardon for their sins.”

Oddly, the day after SPD, some may be calling on their faith to just get through the aftermath of celebrating ...

Regardless, I find it interesting to know why we do what we do because of “tradition”.  And thankfully Saint Patrick’s Day gives us another opportunity for spiritual renewal and offering prayers for missionaires worldwide ...

May luck be our companion

May friends stand by our side

May history remind us all

Of Ireland's faith and pride.

May God bless us with happiness

May love and faith abide.

~Irish Blessing