Thursday, May 7, 2009

The fleeting nature of life...


My mom, dad and I attended a Buddhist funeral in San Jose last night.

It was really great to see them, I haven't seen them since Christmas, and although it was a sad occasion, the services were beautiful.

The minister's speech revolved around the fleeting nature of life; how everything in life is in constant motion and everything around us is constantly changing.

He talked about how even after the death of a loved one, our relationship with this person does not end, it simply changes and although such a change is one of the more difficult things we experience in life, it is also a transforming experience. Although death marks the end of an earthly life, the influence that a person has had on us continues on as our relationship with this person continues to change.

And as death immerses us in the reality of life's impermanence, we begin to remember what we often forget in the whirlwind of our lives; that this present moment is all that we have and that if we are wise we will cherish all that the moment has to offer and fill each moment with love and light, for one moment we are healthy and the next we are merely ash.

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