Friday Sabbath: Blessed are the peacemakers

Today is Gandhi's birthday and in nine days it will be Thich Nhat Hanh's birthday. If you ever look up the traits of the star sign Libra, you will often see "peacemaker" among them. There was some boat-rocking that made it possible, but these two men are certainly shining examples of souls looking for a way to bring the world into harmony.

In my own way, I hope to walk in their footsteps.

Now, they took on some pretty tremendous projects... peace in India (asking Hindus and Muslims to get along) and accessible Buddhist teachings for the "western-minded" (a load of written work and brain-bending creativity). I cannot suppose to find a purpose nearly as grand as all that. But, in my own circles, I am very interested in encouraging cooperation between very different people... and if I succeed, maybe these people will take that encouragement and go out into the world to do Gandhi-sized work. Even Gandhi had his teachers, education, and friends.

Gandhi called for a simpler lifestyle, too. If you search for images, he's often sitting by a spinning wheel making his own fabric. I've simplified my life slightly by making my own ice cream, bread, etc, and my diet gets simpler and simpler with every yoga class. I doubt I'll ever have the courage to walk around in a plain white shroud as he could, but I see numerous places in my life, my concerns, my heart, that could use some spring cleaning.

So, Happy 140th Birthday, great teacher, from all your little admirers...

(From http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091002-gandhi-birthday-google-doodle-picture.html: Short article honoring Gandhi)