In My Mind’s Zen Garden

I was studying some Buddhist teachings that were quite similar to Don Juan’s (from Carlos Castenada’s books) teaching about “death”.

Death, is an advisor…

..meaning that we must embrace the thought that someday we will die. Perhaps since I was a child I felt that I would somehow live forever on this Earth. Only when we get older do we realize that life is short and we must live our lives accordingly, and on borrowed time.

Of course, whether or not we believe in a life after this one, we still have to come to terms with the fact that we will all die. Maybe, sooner than we think.

So, we must look upon our own death as an advisor. What shall we do with our life to make it useful to others… and not just to ourselves. How can we make an impact in this world during our brief stay here.

For me, being a musician who plays a lot of wedding receptions, I feel that I’m already doing something good for the bride and groom and their families… becoming a part of their lives, if only for a brief time to celebrate their joyous and loving union. I love playing wedding receptions, and I enjoy seeing couples so happy and just beginning their lives as husband and wife. It’s all a beautiful experience and I don’t take it for grant one bit.

These are the kinds of things I think about, always, in the back of my mind. Not only is it a valid survival tool, but a great motivator for us to be doing something with our lives before it is over. Many times we go through life like zombies… just going through the motions. It’s important to know just how much we affect others, and how we can make a difference in people’s lives. And in most cases we’re already doing something significant… raising a child, teaching someone something profound, making someone happy… we just have to really feel it… that we are actually doing it, and realizing just how important our actions are.

Imagine, in 100 years time, all of us will cease to exist, and life will go on and others will take our place. And hopefully, we humans would not have screwed up the environment too much so that our future generations will be able to enjoy what we enjoyed.

Anyway, knowing full well that I could be gone in the next moment, I live my life from moment to moment, and I’ve realized just how beautiful this world is right now!

Boy, I’m talking as if I’m a goner, but I’m just living for the moment….

Am I bored like some claim to be sometimes… Certainly not!

I look around me and see such beauty, my eyes are full of tears of joy… this is it! Realization!