Joplin Missouri

We must all keep the people in Joplin in our thoughts. They are suffering so much. Do what you can to help them. It is also a time for us to reflect on the impermanence of all things. Everything is subject to this universal law of impermanence. We may desperately cling to the notion that things can and will remain just as they are, but they don't. Our relentless craving for permanence only leads to pain, sorrow, lamentation, distress, and despair. Many of the people in Joplin have expressed these emotions, but there are others who see things "just as they are" --- they talk about getting past the tragic events and moving on to what's next. How truly wise they are. What can we learn form both groups? It would be wrong to ignore the suffering or treat it lightly. This suffering is real and in it are the lessons. It is in the suffering that we find liberation from suffering. Suffering and liberation---the same thing. This is what the Buddha teaches us to understand. All things are one including suffering and liberation. It may not make sense to you right now, but if you sit with this notion of the two as one, you may find a moment of awakening.