It's unavoidable

There are moments that are as if we've been pulled out of the water like a person who was drowning. But drowning in what? Distraction.

Last night I had one of the half dreaming/half awake scenarios. What happened to our friend Ronnie has been weighing on my head. The thought stated as "we are all coming to the clearing at the end of a path. It's unavoidable and there are no exceptions. The clock is ticking." I woke up thinking, it's kinda nice how your brain will work on you when you are sleeping.

As I was laying there my brain threw an image in front of me. It was me strapped in to a roller coaster, going up a major hill and then starting "the plunge." I got that scary feeling in my stomach and remembered that I hate roller coasters. And then the thought repeated the word, "unavoidable." I new exactly what that was referring to. Death. That thing that comes on an unspecified date and time, without warning. My next thoughts are always the same. My wife, the kids, friends and all the silly things that I enjoy like Mc'Donald's french fries, playing music, learning and all the rest. And then there is the last thought, "I don't want to leave. But it really *is* unavoidable

Those are the thoughts that I sometimes side-step, move to a corner of my mind or try to pretend it's not there. But we all know what the trust is, whether we want to play pretend or not.

The "gift" (and I really do mean gift) of this life is that we have opportunities to do extraordinary things. Bassui says, "If you don't come to enlightenment in this lifetime when will you?" It's important to dedicate time to the things that really matter as opposed to the dramas, distractions, illusions and addictions that we can get into. To make a difference to make *this* life count for something. There's no point in living a mediocre life. Gyo, gyo, gyo, gyo, gyo (practice). There is *no* time to waste.

"Let me respectfully remind you,
Life and death are of supreme importance,
Time moves swiftly like an arrow,
and opportunity is lost,
Each of us should strive to awaken,
Awaken!
Take heed. Do not squander your life."

Happiness,

Jaye Morris, Curator
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