Much of spiritual life is self-acceptance, maybe all of it.

Only in the reality of the present can we love, can we awaken, can we find peace and understanding and connection with ourselves and the world.

In opening we can see how many times we have mistaken small identities and fearful beliefs for our true nature and how limiting this is. We can touch with great compassion the pain from the contracted identities that we and others have created in the world.

The words of the Buddha offer this truth: ∼ Hatred never ceases by hatred but by love alone is healed.

Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.

The awakened heart and mind can be experienced as clarity itself, pure knowing.

When we come into the present, we begin to feel the life around us again, but we also encounter whatever we have been avoiding. We must have the courage to face whatever is present - our pain, our desires, our grief, our loss, our secret hopes our love - everything that moves us most deeply.