It is our nature to long for one reason or another. We long for success, stability, loved ones, far away lands that we’ve never visited, our dearly departed, unfulfilled dreams – you name it.

Today, I find myself oscillating between Sunday chores and pages of a book several hundred years old from my birth land. Recent conversations with a friend have taken me back to these pages of distant memory.

These old pages about SHADHONA (Sanskrit, meaning ‘life’s devotion’) reminded me that a true, devoted journey of hope, compassion, and inspiration does not hold back your fellow traveler – nor it judges their path. Rather, it enhances their passionate pursuit whenever it can.

I was born not too far away from where Buddha was born. Sages and monks are still roaming around – debating about longing, devotion, and duties. Today, I am reminded that the devotion that turns longing into prayers, and prayers that turn into discipline are all that matter in life’s pursuits.

Saint Augustine once said:

“The desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing, thy prayer will also be without ceasing. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer.”

The desire for honest intent is the continuum of ‘longing’ that turns into prayer. Wind cannot blow it out, fire cannot dry it out, water cannot wash it out. The universe always assures its true destination.

We need to keep our minds, and consequently our actions, as free as possible for the universe to rally behind us. According to Dhammapada:

Our actions are all led by the mind;
mind is their master, mind is their maker.
If one acts or speaks with a defiled state of mind,
then suffering follows like the cart-wheel
that follows the foot of the ox.

Our actions are all led by the mind;
mind is their master, mind is their maker.
If one acts or speaks with a pure state of mind,
then happiness follows like a shadow
that remains behind without departing.

While nobody can control life’s cravings simply by an act of will, we can certainly turn it into life’s devotion to make a difference for each one of our journeys and for our fellow travelers! In the end, we owe that to the universe, and to each other.

I bid you a good Sunday.

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