Tonight in the South West of England very cold winds are blowing and the prediction for the next two days is heavy snow. A friend and I contemplated for a while about all the homeless people we have met in town...also about the wild life who is not accustomed to these temperatures and struggling...

This initiated a deep inquiry as to what Farnazeh noted: "what is the 'good' that can come out from this messed up world". Feeling the raw pain of the suffering and the destruction all around us is in our 'humanity' and because it is, its also the way to embody "authentic beingness" - to quote Jean.

I remind myself that in meeting change out there, Im also meeting myself. I see my practice as a continuous embracing of three phenomena of conditioned existence: a) impermanence/change b) unsatisfactoriness/suffering and c) insubstantiality of self. It is a challenge to contemplate our death or the death of a loved one; or to be in the depths of painful illness and stay 'awake'; or to feel grief and loss for the Earth consciously. To me, it is through these challenges that wisdom (trust in the Spirit) and love (open heart) tend to arise (indeed Jean, love your synchronicities!). So, maybe the 'good' that can come from this messed up world is the realisation that wise-love arises from and is necessary for all change.

xx