I MAY NEVER KNOW YOU
ONE BY ONE---BREATH BY BREATH
THE ROAD OF RADICAL COMPASSION
WHO AMONG US?
THE PRAYERS OF THE WORLD
GO FORTH WITH DIGNITY

I MAY NEVER KNOW YOU

I may never know your name,
But I do not need to, to know
How your heart treasures the calling of your name
By someone who loves you.
I know this,
For I know this of me.

I may never look into your eyes,
But I know you search for meaning and hope
And answers to the why and how of life
As I do.

I may never touch your hand,
But I know you have a living body
Which needs nourishment and water,
Safety and touch,
As I do.

I may never know you,
But I know you cherish and yearn
For freedom and dignity
And the chance to make your dreams come true,
As I do.

I may never know you,
And yet I do.

ONE BY ONE...BREATH BY BREATH

This is the constant wave upon the shore of life for humans and all animals. Breathing. We are all breathing, together, now...in and out, in and out. We can use the breath to connect us not only to the primordial source of being, but also to connect us to one another. Breathe once in and out. During that time, you and every single living human being has also breathed in and out. During that time, you and every single living breathing creature has also breathed in and out with you.

With the Salt Monument, we can imagine each human being, each grain of salt, each of us, one by one, inhaling and exhaling, now and now and now, and the next minute and the next, on and on. Everyone who is alive today is breathing, now...breathing in and out. All together. We are all doing it all together. It is a wind blowing through each of us, all of us, by which we are sustained and connected. So simple.

Then there are the people for whom this breath in or out will be of the utmost importance.

For some, this inhalation is their first. The first breath in this life. The first breath of life can only be an inhalation. We call it: birth. On this day, almost 370,000 people breathed in their first breath, as you and I once did. They will now breathe in and out, again and again, as you and I do, for the rest of their lives however long that will be.

For some, this exhalation is their last. The last breath of this life. The last breath of life can only be an exhalation. We call it: death. On this day, over 150,000 people breathed out for their last time, as you and I one day will.

One by one. There is only one way that the wave of life passes in us and through us. One by one. One breath in, one breath out. One by one we are born. One day by one day we live. One by one we die. One by one we come and go.

With each inhalation you breathe, fifteen people somewhere in the world have inhaled their very first breath. The beginning...the beginning of their individual life. Birth. Each time as you exhale, six people somewhere in the world will be exhaling their very last breath. The end of their individual life. Death.

Breathe in: fifteen people born. Breathe out: six people die. Breathe in and out: seven billion people breathe with you.

Breathing in and breathing out. First breaths. Last breaths. Coming and going. Staying and breathing. One by one.

THE ROAD OF RADICAL COMPASSION

Whether you are weary or reverent, overwhelmed, grateful or pressured, inadequate or alone, or joyous, unfocused, angry, in love, sick...self-absorbed, humbled...hungry or cold, fortunate, in fear or disappointed, or...

Wherever you are, whatever you are feeling or thinking,
Start exactly there.
You do not need to try to feel or think anything, nor
Drum up the lofty or abstract
To enter this road.

Begin in the realness of exactly where you are.
Anything will do.
Anything will give you access.
It is itself an infinite road,
So anywhere you start will be the same.

Simply for example:
If you are tired,
Feel your tiredness and let it connect you to the many---so many---
On the road who are also tired.
In your mind's eye,
Go out onto the path of life and seek them out.
Allow yourself to enter into their tiredness.
Visit with as many who are also tired on the road as you can---
Of all ages, of all circumstances, in all places.
As much as possible, ignore or forget no one.

Listen to their stories,
Feel their exhaustion,
Understand their reasons.
Be sure to meet with some whose tiredness is so great and real
That your own becomes paltry.
Sit a while with these people, and
Let them teach you about tiredness.

They will show you the road of radical compassion.
Always start exactly where you are, and know:
There are as many teachers as there are people
On the road of radical compassion.

WHO AMONG US?

        A handful.

How many are living the consequences of those decisions?

        Seven billion.

What happens if we ask each of the seven billion people to help decide:

Do you want war where you live?
Do you want to see your children die
        from malnutrition and disease caused by poverty?
Do you want your homeland plundered
        for the profit and convenience of others you do not know?
Do you want to slave in a factory, beg for food,
        sell yourself or your children, or live in the street?
Do you want to live daily in terror of cruelty, oppression,
        violence, or tyranny?

Who among us, who among seven billion, will say yes to these questions for themselves and their loved ones?

        Not one!

Then why are a handful of people daily making decisions that directly and indirectly cause all this to happen,
Not to just one or a handful but to billions?
Billions of us!

        What if each and every person in the world helped decide?

Impractical?! Radical democracy?! Impossible?! Yes, perhaps. Things are far too complex for such a thing to work. But shouldn't the handful of people involved in decisions consider this?

Shouldn't we all?

THE PRAYERS OF THE WORLD

I am not speaking of the noble, high-hearted prayers for lessening the suffering of humankind. I am not speaking of the holy prayers uttered in the churches and temples of worship. No. And neither are these the prayers that theologians discuss, nor those that are considered in the arid heights of philosophical dissertation. They are not even the prayers sincerely defined by genuinely spiritual people in order to elevate the hearts of others.

I am speaking of the simplest prayers, those spontaneously and earnestly expressed in our moments of utter helplessness, in our realization of our powerlessness in the face of life's realities.

It is the prayer of a mother, wishing with all her heart that her child will not die during this night. It is the prayer of the prisoner, yearning for freedom. It is the prayer of celebration for love fulfilled. It is the prayer of the soldier, hoping it is not his best friend who was just killed before his eyes. It is the prayer that there was some way to warm the bitter cold. Or that the merciless heat would abate, or that the rain and flooding would stop, or the life-giving rains would start. It is the prayer for something, anything, to eat today. It is the prayer of gratitude for a prayer answered. It is the prayer that one's fatal disease will cease its onslaught. Or that a peaceful death could come quickly. Or that the torturers would simply stop the beating. It is the prayer for one night of safe, peaceful sleep in a city ravaged by violence. It is the prayer of joy for the hope of birth. It is the prayer of a native elder to continue a traditional way of life without being destroyed by modernization. It is the prayer for a job to earn a simple living. It is the prayer of a street child for a few coins. It is the prayer to be saved from a self-destructive addiction. It is the prayer. It is the prayer. It is the prayer.

Oh yes. There are many such prayers, each and every day. Millions upon millions of prayers. Uttered, or perhaps only felt and not even formed into words---but sent out, unheard, from the deepest heart of hearts of single human beings, into the atmosphere of our Earth. Every day. Millions. Even billions. Like an etheric wind circling our planet, the voices, the tears, the pleadings, the hopes---simple heartfelt prayers for the relief of some suffering or difficulty---these transmissions float within the narrow band of our sky just as surely as the radio, television, and satellite transmissions.

We can tune into this station: The Prayers of the World. It is very affecting.

Once heard, these prayers can scarce be forgotten.

GO FORTH WITH DIGNITY

For those in prison, on death row,
On streets as beggars...
For those defeated, marginalized, brutalized...
For the majority of humanity...
For the utter "nobodies"...
To us all:

Go forth with dignity,
Always,
Whatever the circumstances.

To hold yourself with the highest honor,
Embodying the greatest virtues of being human---
However lowly others may be in their treatment of you,

Go forth with dignity---
Whatever fate may befall you.