Via FB: What if???

What if??? ❤️❤️❤️
If they cancel the rest of the school year, students would miss 2.5 months of education. Many people are concerned about students falling behind because of this. Yes, they may fall behind when it comes to classroom education...
But what if...❤️❤️❤️

What if instead of falling “behind", this group of kids are ADVANCED because of this? Hear me out...❤️❤️❤️
What if they have more empathy, they enjoy family connection, they can be more creative and entertain themselves, they love to read, they love to express themselves in writing. ❤️❤️❤️
What if they enjoy the simple things, like their own backyard and sitting near a window in the quiet. ❤️❤️❤️
What if they notice the birds and the dates the different flowers emerge, and the calming renewal of a gentle rain shower? ❤️❤️❤️
What if this generation are the ones to learn to cook, organize their space, do their laundry, and keep a well run home? ❤️❤️❤️
What if they learn to stretch a dollar and to live with less? ❤️❤️❤️
What if they learn to plan shopping trips and meals at home. ❤️❤️❤️
What if they learn the value of eating together as a family and finding the good to share in the small delights of the everyday? ❤️❤️❤️
What if they are the ones to place great value on our teachers and educational professionals, librarians, public servants and the previously invisible essential support workers like truck drivers, grocers, cashiers, custodians, logistics, and health care workers and their supporting staff, just to name a few of the millions taking care of us right now while we are sheltered in place? ❤️❤️❤️
What if among these children, a great leader emerges who had the benefit of a slower pace and a simpler life to truly learn what really matters in this life?❤️❤️
What if they are AHEAD? ❤️❤️❤️❤️
(Copied and pasted from a friend but too good not to share! ❤️)

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation / Words of Wisdom - April 8, 2020 💌

"Compassion in action is paradoxical and mysterious. It is absolute yet continually changing. It accepts that everything is happening exactly as it should, and it works with a full-hearted commitment to change. It sets goals but knows that the process is all there is. It is joyful in the midst of suffering and hopeful in the face of overwhelming odds. It is simple in a world of complexity and confusion. It is done for other, but it nurtures the self. It shields in order to be strong. It intends to eliminate suffering, knowing that suffering is limitless. It is action arising from emptiness..." 

- Ram Dass -

Via Tricycle: Enjoy this April Fools' satire on the Buddha’s virtual sermon

Archaeologists in India’s Bihar State this week unearthed what they believe to be a Buddhist sutra from the 1st century CE, which depicts the Buddha telecommuting to deliver a sermon to his followers. In the scripture, the Buddha’s attendant Ananda recounts a time when his teacher was traveling in a distant land but still wished to address the sangha. While much of the text has been damaged, researchers say that it appears to describe the Buddha miraculously projecting his image and voice onto a screen at a monastic hall, where disciples had gathered to hear his message.

Unfortunately, as the following excerpt demonstrates, the Buddha encountered some technical difficulties:

Thus have I (mostly) heard,
[…]
A monk asked the Buddha, “Lord, you have taught us to value both solitude and community. How are we to understand this?”
And the Buddha responded: “When one’s [inaudible] is [inaudible] or [inaudible], then it is paramount that [inaudible].”
At which point the Blessed One’s image on the screen did freeze, and the student asked, “Lord Buddha, are you still there?”
And the Buddha replied, “and so that is what—what’s that? Can you hear me now?”
And the monk said that he could.
The Blessed One then announced that he was moving to another room to see if there was better reception.
Seated once more, he continued: “The true nature of reality is—”
Alas, mid-word, the Buddha’s message did abruptly cease, and the screen went blank. The monks hurried to investigate the cause, puzzling over whether or not the issue was on their side, until, suddenly, they were startled by a chirp-like ring.
The Buddha’s image then reappeared.
“How does it look now?” the Blessed One asked.
And although the Buddha’s lips did not sync with the sound of his voice, the monk said, “It’s astounding, lord.”
The Blessed One said, “All things are subject (all things) to arising (are subject to) and passing (arising and) away—do you hear (away) that echo? (Do you hear that echo?)”
The monk answered, “Yes, Lord.”
And the Blessed One said, “Oh, great, now [inaudible] frozen (frozen)!”
The monk waved his hand to see if the Buddha could see him.
The Blessed One’s image did then disappear, before once again returning with greater clarity than before. The Buddha asked, “How about now?”
The monk answered, “Perfect, lord. I can see and hear you clearly now.”
[…]

The text cuts off at this point. Researchers continue to use fragments of the remaining text to reconstruct the rest of the sutra. But progress has been slow as they, too, have had to communicate via video conferencing, during which they keep talking over each other, simultaneously saying, “Sorry, you go,” and observing a brief silence, before all speaking at the same time again.

Make the jump here to read the original and more

Via Daily Dharma: Breathe with Your Whole Body

To better understand how to breathe with the conscious participation of the whole body, nothing is more helpful than to recognize that, in a deeply relaxed body, the force of breath can cause the entire body to remain in a state of subtle, constant, fluid motion.

—Will Johnson, "Breath Moves Body"

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE