As you may suspect, not only don’t I discuss politics…but religion, money, and reality TV are big no no’s on my discussion lists.

So you may wonder why I have a blog about Buddha.

You see…

I was walking down the stairwell with my hands full of ….stuff.   When a door flew open, startled me and I dropped a bowl.  Imagine it in slow motion.  A bowl I really, really didn’t want to drop topples from my hands.  I release some papers to free a hand in the hopes of catching it.  I was close.  The tips of my fingers grazed the bowl in a sad farewell as it cascaded down the stairs smashing into an impossible number of pieces.

And that’s when Buddha came crashing into my world.  In the form of a quote I saw on Facebook.  Yes. Facebook.  It read…

“The root of suffering is attachment.” ~ The Buddha

Back story:

Earlier in life three girls spent an inordinate amount of time deciding who gets the bowl their relative made the muffins of their childhood.  The bowl they think of every time they smell the scent of pumpkin.  The one they drew straws to lick. The one they made fun of as ‘ugly’ in their teens.  The one they all wanted.

I won the bowl.

I lost the bowl.

I won a lesson….

You see

I will always think of my grandmother when I smell pumpkin.

I will always want to lick the bowl when I (or anyone nearby) bakes.

I will always think fondly of the past when I see ugly bowls.

I may have fought for a bowl that was an illusion because I believed it had power.

But the power is in the memory and the release of attachment to the ‘thing’.

We never need the ‘thing’.  We always have the essence of the moment.

Always.

Thank you Buddha.

Thank you Grandma.

Thank you Universe.

Namaste…

Heather