the first noble truth of buddhism is this - all of life is suffering -- suffering that comes from impermanence. everything changes - marriages end - children die - parents die - illness blindsides us and leaves us humbled - fires burn worlds we have created to feel safe - floods wash away fortunes built over decades like twigs disappearing in the current. beauty fades and families grow up and we cannot hold on. we suffer when we try to walk through this world unscathed by loss that will always find us.

yet joy exists. does it come from some innate knowledge of security and abiding constancy we believe endures on some other plane? have we created the illusion that our perfect little circle of life is immune to gut-wrenching change and uncertainty and death? buddhists say the only way to escape suffering is by letting go of all expectation and entitlement - of all attachment to a particular way we want things to be. does that leave us powerless or does it offer a way of seeing that will lead us to freedom?

as my children have suffered their own heartaches, i have asked them - are you ok right now - in this moment? - and the answer has always been yes. so i tell them everything is ok because this moment is all there is - the rest will unfold as it should. i have been asked what my five year plan is - what i want to do with the rest of my life - what is my goal? i don't know i don't know i don't know. knowing is not real - is not possible - only gives the illusion of control or power or wisdom. if we embrace the not knowing - allow humility to finally reveal our ignorance and our impotence, we become vulnerable - open - innocent. and then we are at the edge of an ocean of possibilities - where life reveals itself with sweet serendipity. we accept all of life with gratitude - seeing with virgin eyes - careful not to miss one fleeting instant of wonder. if we are lucky we realize this life we live is not demanded or deserved but offered generously if we are awake and unafraid. we are here now and all is well - fear is gone - dissipated like fog on a sunny morning and life is pure gratitude -

the soul unencumbered

finally.