A New years Message - a question?

Well, I've been very luckily to again visit Malaysia this year again, to run some young people retreats and so my New year will be here. I'm starting to slow down from a busy year and reflect on 2010 and the now. What I saw a lot of travelling around the colleges, meeting students and teachers was dealing with the uncertainty and fear, something that in the Buddhist way of seeing things, you get to meet a lot and hopefully make friends with. One of the core teaching of the Buddha is around change, suffering and understanding you are not who you think you are (more here) and this allows wisdom to arise.  One way of starting this noble friendship called Kalaynamitta in Buddhism, is make friends with your body, emotions, mind and also with other people. The Buddha recommended "The friend who is all take, The friend of empty words, The friend full of flattery, And the reckless friend (from here);  are not worthy of being a friend and to develop - "The friend who is a helper, The friend through thick and thin, The friend who gives good counsel, And the compassionate friend." The other way is to question our underlying beliefs, habits and social/political and religious constructs – are they true friends? I'm always remind about this, from the film the Matrix, “...you were looking for the answer, its the question that drives us, its the question that brought you here..."

What is your question? What is it that drives you? Do you live your question?

and so the weather in the west has been somewhat cold as I've been told. Sometimes we don't know what we are looking for, we don't have the answer, or the question, sometime we just have to wait, to open our hands and hearts and well listen.. with no expectation just the breath and the body.... David Whyte a wonderful poet and says it all for me....

The journey with no path, no end point, full of twist and turns, dead ends and fantastic vistas is helped with good friendship, choosing our friends is important. And this usually starts of with being friends with our self. Joe cocker says this well...

And so I hope the new year, which from a Buddhist perspective you could say starts with each breath, is kind, abundant, and full of wisdom. And of course dont take it to seriously everything is okay ….

With Gratitude to you all, to my teachers, to my friends, those that I have not met yet....