I went to a Wesla ceremony today and it was so sweet and joyful. It's the Buddha's birthday, enlightenment and death day all rolled into one. I went with a dear friend, who has been my spiritual companion for quite a few years now, and she is always leading me on new paths just when I need a fresh direction. A part of the ceremony is to bathe the baby Buddha in water, and it is so like the tenderness we feel when we bathe our children or grandchildren, that you want to blow bubbles and splash and giggle. So much of the Buddhist path is about beginner's mind, the curiosity and delight in the world that young children effortlessly possess. Having grandchildren is a reminder of the loving nature we all have if we allow ourselves to acknowledge it.
Yesterday we went to our younger daughter's graduation ceremony and heard Nancy Pelosi speak. And she touched my heart, because she spoke as a woman, a mother and a grandmother and she kept connecting people's lives in ways that we women do so well. I felt proud of her, and proud of the progress women have achieved since I was a young woman my daughter's age. We have struggled. There are barriers, and around the world still greater ones to overcome. Our strength lies in our ability to honor and love who women are, and not hate ourselves for what we are not. I feel my daughter has become empowered (overused word, but apt) by her experiences at her college, and is being supported in doing her work not just well, but in a woman's way. Social connections are life blood to us, and seeing how we all depend on each other part of our basic daily operations. We live and die by the support of our women friends, mothers and daughters, and independence doesn't mean isolation. For us, it means freedom to carve out our own identities without having to meet outmoded expectations. We're proud of ourselves; we're different than men, but we function very well indeed. The path to respect in the world is self respect, and I'm so happy to see my daughters far along it.
No comments:
Post a Comment