Bodhisattva Therapy

Divine Mother of Loving Compassion, we give thanks for your sacred vow to not enter Paradise until All Beings are saved! Bless our attempts to activate our minds and hearts to likewise live our days as Loving Compassion in sacred service for everyone's liberation in justice and peace... Om Peace Amen...

So, how is your pursuit of happiness going? Are things beginning to come together and work out for you? Has your meditation jumped to the super-conscious level yet? Have you been able to finally let go of all the baggage of hurts, regrets, and pains that you've had to endure and lug around with you for so very long? Is your love-life finally where you've dreamed it would be? Are you adored by someone? (Are you still seeing your therapist? It has been a real long time now, hasn't it?) Why haven't you made any lasting advance in your life-long pursuit of Self-realization?

Do any of these questions resonate with you? Have any version of them been asked of you? Do you ask yourself any of these questions -- or your own versions of them? How about this one: have you ever wondered why self-help gurus write and sell so many books to the same people, over and over again? You would think that if the first book didn't prompt the jump to self-realization -- what with a title like "How to Know God, Fulfill Your Divine Potential, and Fully Awaken to Your Chosen Destiny" -- why would the second book -- with a title like "Manifest Your Liberation, Achieve Limitless Prosperity, and Orgasm Everytime" -- still reach the bestseller list (with an advertisement on the back page for an exclusive Carribean Cruise for Seven Days with the Cosmic Series Author and Your Own Private Consultations, morning yoga on the sundeck, clothing optional hot tub, and nightly Tarot Readings)? Ah, self-realization is big business...

But where does it all leave the average person, perhaps with a heart that has been broken a few times over... perhaps with a marginally successful career, but still coming home alone... perhaps very sincere and devout in daily meditation, maybe some yoga, maybe some faith community worship, maybe some friendly volleyball and campfires on the beach... but ... but... but... Mountains of good-will, integrity, sincerity, faithfulness, and good ol' effort just never seem to be able to put "Humpty-Me, Humpty-You Back Together Again"...

If you've been able to get this far -- great! Now scan back to the Divine Mother Prayer at the top of this page... do you notice something important, something very special revealed in the prayer? That something important and very special is what Buddhists call the "Bodhisattva Vow": To not enter Paradise until All Beings are saved... and then to work throughout all time for everyone's liberation in justice and peace. There is nothing in the prayer about "me"... about "my" self-realization... about "my" fulfillment... except that "I might serve everyone else's liberation!" Holy Moly! Do you get it? You don't need to buy another book (except perhaps mine)! Love is all you need! All you need to do is Love! All you need to give your therapist is Love! All that your past needs is Love to turn the page! All that your dreams need is for you to actively engage your compassion and to Love! All that Love needs for you to do is to Love! Do you see? Nothing -- absolutely nothing -- in this life is about "me"! Everything in life is about Every Other -- and then about "US"! "God" is not here for "my" salvation: God is "there" for the "others' " liberation in your Love! This awakening is called "Bodhisattva Therapy": this awakening is the point and the purpose of life. And this awakening is absolutely free: all you have to do / be to receive it is to give it away.

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