pema choden

Recently, in a friend’s kitchen I saw on the wall a quotation from one of
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s talks, which said: “Hold the sadness and pain of
samsara in your heart and at the same time the power and vision of the Great
Eastern Sun. Then the warrior can make a proper cup of tea.”

I was struck by it because when I read it I realized that I myself have some
kind of preference for stillness. The notion of holding the sadness and pain of
samsara in my heart rang true, but I realized I didn’t do that; at least, I had
a definite preference for the power and vision of the Great Eastern Sun. My
reference point was always to be awake and to live fully, to remember the Great
Eastern Sun—the quality of being continually awake. But what about holding the
sadness and pain of samsara in my heart at the same time?

The quotation really made an impression on me. It was completely true: if you
can live with the sadness of human life (what Rinpoche often called the tender
heart or genuine heart of sadness), if you can be willing to feel fully and
acknowledge continually your own sadness and the sadness of life, but at the
same time not be drowned in it, because you also remember the vision and power
of the Great Eastern Sun, you experience balance and completeness, joining
heaven and earth, joining vision and practicality.