Blessings & gratitude

As I sit quietly in the early morning in my small monastery, and before the light of the day has reached my eyes, my heart abounds to all the beings who have helped shape my life, encouraged my Dhamma path and supported my journey.

My mother and father: They brought me into this life. Even though they were not rich, they fed, clothed and educated me and showed a way to live that became the foundation of my life. My father especially, with his love, humour and always reliable support, showed, even before I knew it, the beginnings of my Dhamma path. Such a wonderful gift.

My sister: So different from me and perhaps the first person, after my parents, I loved, and also the first person to exploit that caring. A teaching of the danger of expectation and its often consequent disappointment. Such a wonderful gift.

My first wife: To love someone and be loved in return, like a fire burning so brightly until our differences overwhelmed us. The mother of my children and the one who stopped my spiritual arrogance so many times and made me reflect upon my behaviour. Such a wonderful gift.

My two sons: To be present at their birth, to share my love with them, to care and worry about them. To recognise that in the end, we all go our own way and that their happiness is the only familial goal to aspire towards. Such a wonderful gift.

My Dhamma Master: Sayadaw Rewata Dhamma became and remains, the most important figure in my Dhamma life, which of course, is not separate from my daily life, both then and now. For twenty two years until his death he nurtured, supported and tested my determination to remain on a true Dhamma path. He sent me into the world to share this Dhamma, a way for me to commit even further to the discipline and training. Such a wonderful gift.

My wife Isabelle: First a student, then a disciple, and now my assistant in sharing Dhamma. To love the husband and honour the Master is such a difficult path to walk, but to care so deeply about the tradition, the training and its necessary respect brings value to everything we do. Such a wonderful gift.

The Being called Buddha: To share with all people, men, women, high caste and low caste equally is the mark of the greatest Dhamma. For me to have met this beautiful being so early in my life and had the karmic disposition to recognise the value and importance of his teaching. Such a wonderful gift.

These are some of the people who have served me so well in my life, but there are many others of course. The ones who showed me how to live, and those who showed me how not to live. Such a wonderful gift.

When the heart is open, all beings and situations become our teachers, and so in the end it is life itself that is the greatest teacher. The Buddha pointed to old age, sickness and death, the mind of desire and aversion, and the path of freedom. This is the Dhamma, the way of love and awareness, offered to all without restriction. Such wonderful gifts.

May all beings be happy.