For this Dharma Thought, we share Steve Allison-Bunnell’s September writing on the Five Remembrances.
“I am of a nature to grow old. I cannot escape old age…” It might seem like a big downer to recite the Five Remembrances on your birthday, but that is what I did this week. And I am old enough now that I indeed cannot escape the experience of an aging body. If the practice were only the Four Remembrances, and ended with “I will lose all that I love,” it would indeed be difficult to contemplate on any day, much less one’s birthday. But it is the fifth that never fails to both bring me back into the present moment and to renew the joy of living: “My actions are my only true possessions. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. They are the ground on which I stand.” Instead of scaring me more, this line always reminds me that my life ripples out and crosses yours. I—you—we—can’t not make a difference! Those ripples continue even as we change and age. And with each passing year, there are more ripples sent into the universe. What intersections in the ripples of your life can you see? How does that refresh your experience of Interbeing?
