What Kind of World Do You Want?

First flowers sprouting in the Atacama desert after a rare rainfall by Gerhard Hudep​öhl

What if all desire
soft-petaled, rose-scented
all aversion
pointed porcupine quills
were seen, heard, felt, known?
Would delusion still exist?
Could speech and action 
be motivated by something 
larger than the kilesas?
What kind of world do you want?
History starts now...
 
 
Behind every word, every action, there is a seed of intention, a motivation fueled by desire and/or aversion that that leads to the delusion of real connection. What do I want from you? How are you pissing me off? The subject of relational awareness is quite juicy, quite messy this way.
 
In Don’t Look Down on the Defilements, They Will Laugh at You, Sayadaw U Tejaniya writes, “Every intention comes with a motivation. Most motivations are defilements. Only if you fully recognize and understand defilements, wisdom will arise. Now wisdom will motivate your intentions.”
 
I notice in personal and not so personal relationships that there is often a soft-petaled desire for connection with others. It’s fascinating how much I will alter reality for a hit of rose-scented sweetness high. If you display any pointed porcupine quills in speech or action, you are the ultimate enemy. Get away! A temporary lapse of consciousness takes hold. I’ve never hurt anyone in my life.
 
What if I pause for one minute, one breath (and hopefully longer) to notice, name, and feel the contours of soft-petaled and pointed, their cumulative effects on the heart? Would delusion still exist? “Throughout our life we habitually seek and grasp. To sit back and just watch this happening is difficult. However, this sitting back and just watching is essential to become able to see and understand these habits.”
 
Speech and action can be motivated by something larger than the kilesas. Seeds of loving intention can be planted in the most arid desert or rugged terrain. The heart can bloom from any seed, regardless of fertile soil or fair weather. I have seen this happen, felt the ineffable peace of bodhichitta temporarily free of the kilesas. The connection with self and other is real, transcending the idea of you and me as separate beings. There is an energetic field of safe, loving awareness inviting all beings to enter sacred space. Don’t take my word for it. Come see for yourself. 
 
“You will be happier and get on more harmoniously with other people if you are clearly aware of whatever you do, wherever you are. This only comes easily when there is sustained momentum in the practice; it only becomes possible when there is natural awareness, when awareness becomes second nature.”
 
May we create space in our own hearts to belong, opening the heart door to others.
 
What kind of world do you want? History starts now...
 
​Notes:

Kilesas – The defilements. Greed, hatred, and delusion.
“Trying to create something is greed.
Rejecting what is happening is aversion.
Not knowing if something is happening or has stopped happening is delusion.”

Bodhichitta – The awakened mindheart. “The soft spot, a place as vulnerable and tender as an open wound. It is equated, in part, with our ability to love. Bodhichitta is also equated, in part, with compassion—our ability to feel the pain that we share with others.”