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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Emma - Lopen Ani Pema Deki

Good morning.

Buddhism says that every living being has the potential to become Enlightened, meaning full of compassion and wisdom.

This seemingly simple idea really struck a chord with me. It seemed ridiculously positive! Here was I, floundering about, achieving some things, failing at others, trying to be kind but all too often ending up impatient - and yet Buddhism was saying that all the while, something about my inherent nature, my essence, had the potential to flower into total compassion and wisdom.

I really had to sit with this and wonder, why was it so hard for me to have confidence in this possibility? Even more than that, could seeing myself in this way free me from the harshness with which I might often perceive myself and others.

I decided to examine these ideas; I learnt that this essence is called Buddha nature and that it lives in all sentient life – ants, bees, humans. All have this same potential.

But the most helpful form is to be born as a human. This is because it is the human which has the most potential to help the largest number of beings. This human life is therefore seen as a remarkable opportunity to develop our Buddha nature from an essence into a fully-fledged form.

So everyday I try to remember that, underneath the layers of confusion within myself and others, this essence continues to shine at all times. I find actually visualising that very helpful.

I would like to close with these words;

‘May all beings be at peace and may this begin with us’

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