Through the Storm

When I awoke on Friday, Dec. 2 and discovered that the power was still off in my house I began to feel sorrowful.  Somehow I had made it through two nights of darkness and was ready to turn on the lights, furnace, and tv.  However, driving through the ravaged streets of Pasadena on my way to the doctor's office, I realized just how powerful and destructive the Santa Ana winds had been.  Power lines hung like ropes from treetops.  Huge eucalyptus and evergreen trees blocked streets.  Palm fronds littered yards and sidewalks.

Minutes later, sitting in my doctor's office, I felt ashamed of my self pity as I listened to the young nurse assistant and Latino doctor explain that their homes were also without power.  Hearing them reminded me of a story about the Buddha.  Once a woman whose child had died came to him seeking counsel for her grief.  He told her to go into the village and find a family who had not been touched by death.  She went from door to door and found no one who had not suffered the death of a loved one.  So she went back to the Buddha and told him she could find no one.  The woman learned a great lesson that day -- that suffering is universal.  The Buddha was wise.  Rather than telling the woman that great truth, he let her see for herself.

If we take the time to step away from our own petty cares and worries, we will see that everyone suffers in one way or another.  It is not so much a question of whether we suffer, but how we bear our suffering.  The best way is not to be filled with self pity, but to help ease the suffering of others.  In doing so, we ease our own.

On Saturday morning, my power was still off, but I had taken on a new attitude.  Candles lit every room.  A crackling fire in the fireplace warmed the living room.  I boiled water to bathe in.  Rather than focus on what I did not have, I was grateful for what I had.