Buddha under the Bohi Tree
Tonight watching the PBS show Buddha I was struck about how many thoughts of the Buddha have entered my awareness: thoughts on “The Middle Way”; “question of why we suffer”; “Enlightenment”; “Inner Peace”; “Mindfulness” and many more. Buddha believed and practiced that deep peace and holiness was to be found in each one of us, in the ordinary of human life.
If you asked the Buddha how to obtain all these wonderful insights like inner peace and enlightenment, he would say the way is “meditation”. Buddha sat underneath a Bohi tree meditating until he received an answer to his question of why there was such suffering or dissatisfaction in life. Demon gods tried to distract him from his mission. He remained firm and finally found enlightenment. He could have rested with this new-found discovery of inner peace but decided to go out to spread it to others, no matter how difficult that might be.
This reminder of how to focus on the present and find peace in everyday life came to me at a good moment. I started off the day not feeling really well and the first thing I had to do was go to the dentist. At a long luncheon conversation at a vegetarian Indian restaurant with a friend I realized more how my life was full of unnecessary distractions and self-imposed suffering. A phone conversation with a mental health case supervisor gave me opportunity for more frustration. But I said no and went out to do an errand, pick up prescriptions for a friend and come home to make some pinto bean and ham soup. Not much of today was on my “to do list after Easter” but I must have been anticipating the ‘Buddha’ show since I started to watch it “tired” but not anxious or distracted.
Thank you Buddha for reminding me that all we need to know to live a life of peace and satisfaction is already within us.
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