Tonglen and poetry

Thanks for posting this, HecateDemeter, and I'm reposting it because it reminds me how we each help each other through the rough spots.

John  O’Donohue’s Blessing For Love in a Time of Conflict:

When the gentleness between you hardens
And you fall out of your belonging with each other,
May the depths you have reached hold you still.
When no true word can be said, or heard,
And you mirror each other in the script of hurt,
When even the silence becomes raw and torn,
May you hear again an echo of your first music.
When the weave of affection starts to unravel
And anger begins to sear the ground between you,
Before this weather of grief invites
The black seed of bitterness to find root,
May your souls come to kiss.
Now is the time for one of you to be gracious,
To allow a kindness beyond thought and hurt,
Reach out with sure hands
To take the chalice of your love,
And carry it carefully through this echoless waste
Until this winter pilgrimage leads you
Towards the gateway of Spring

Anoher thing I want to save here is from Pema Chodron, and it is to remind me not to shield myself from the pain others are experiencing, but to open myself up to heal both them and myself.  This is the second thing I needed to learn (relearn?) today.

The Practice of Tonglen