Today I am reminded of this poem by Stephen Levine:
If prayer would do it
I'd pray.
If reading esteemed thinkers would do it
I'd be halfway through the Patriarch.
If discourse would do it
I'd be sitting with His Holiness
every moment he was free.
If contemplation would do it
I'd have translated the Periodic Table
to hermit poems, converting
matter to spirit.
If even fighting would do it
I'd already be a black belt.
If anything other than love could do it
I've done it already
and left the hardest for last.
~~Stephen Levine
As we contemplate Right View, Right Intention, and Right Action, perhaps we might consider putting love, compassion, kindness right up there at the top of our list of qualities to foster and reflect upon. And perhaps we might even consider putting ourselves at the top of the list of those to whom we would offer our love, compassion, and kindness. And, of course, not stop there.
Now more than ever.