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The Daily Dharma – January 13, 2022

Photo by Daniel Mccullough

There is an old story about a famous rabbi living in Europe who was visited one day by a man who had traveled by ship from New York to see him. The man came to the great rabbi’s dwelling, a large house on a street in a European city, and was directed to the rabbi’s room, which was in the attic. He entered to find the master living in a room with a bed, a chair, and a few books. The master expected much more. After greetings, he asked, “Rabbi, where are your things?” The rabbi asked in return, “Well, where are yours?” His visitor replied, “But Rabbi, I’m only passing through,” and the master answered, “So am I. So am I.”


To love fully and live well requires us to recognize finally that we do not possess or own anything — our homes, our cars, our loved ones, not even our own body. Spiritual joy and wisdom do not come through possession but rather through our capacity to open, to love more fully, and to move and be free in life.

 
Jack Kornfield
from A Path with Heart; A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life
Chapter: Did I Love Well?