Good morning!
It is a bright, beautiful Sunday morning with the abundant green after a long spell of rain. Now we have fresh air with a beautiful flower, truthful light, and fragrant incense. We sit together and enjoy this peace and harmony.
I saw a hummingbird already visiting our flowers. Someone sent me a video of a hummingbird baby that had been attacked, but then saved and nurtured. It started flying inside and out. It was set free, but came back. Someone from Japan told me about his fostering a baby bird. It returned also, he now think.
This morning I read an article in today’s New York Times Magazine about the twins conjoined with their brains sharing the thalamus. It shows us how we could be connected, how we could behave, and how we could live together in peace or pain.
Through the conjoined brains, one feels the other being tickled; the blindfolded one perceives what the other sees; they often utter the same words at the same time. When they fight, their bodies and brains separate. They scratch each other, stick fingers into the other’s mouth, etc.
When it comes to matter and power, they tend to become separated, and selfish and they suffer for it. How confused and conflicted their brains and bodies become when they crave, hate and fight? The three poisons damage and destroy their truth, peace, goodness, and beauty.
When they remain in the sphere of mind and life, they can enjoy the same beautiful flowers, good relations, truthful states and the holy world. Because they share the same circumstances, surroundings, culture, and genes, they usually coexisted together in harmony.
It shows very well how we are and should be connected, how we should communicate with each other, and be compassionate rather than becoming separate and selfish – and suffering for it. In their actual life, they must live together. How wonderful it is to feel and enjoy mind and life in peace and truth!
As we feel bodies and brains separate, so we try to benefit ourselves, without caring about others. Twins connected in their brains cannot continue such situation. They must continue to live together in harmony and peace. How can they attain harmony and peace?
They should not move in different directions. Rather they should stay still and calm down together with their bodies and minds in peace – as we do in sitting. In this way we can be harmonious and holy with others for a while or the whole of life in truth, peace, holiness, and happiness.
So, we can learn from this example how to live in peace with other people, generations, and species. We know such stories as hummingbirds and humans, cats and dogs, gorillas and lions living together in peace after being raised together from their childhood as normal.
How can we develop our ability to live together in peace and happiness? The principles of the Ability Education* tell us how we can develop our abilities. Buddha cultivated and developed his ability and capacity to perceive, feel and act in peace and truth with all.
5/29/11
*Dr Shin’ichi Suzuki taught the following five principles as the “Law of Ability” to develop ability in contradistinction to the “Law of Heradity:”
- Better environment
- Better method
- Better instruction
- Earlier start
- More practice
5/29/11
