Following on from last week’s post about compassion training, today I’m going to write about the 4 Tibetan affirmations. And Norman Fisher’s recommendation is that you read them, then you read them again, then you write them down and reflect on them, then journal about your reflections, and then you bring them into your meditation and take time for personal reflection.

The 4 affirmations are:

1. The rarity and preciousness of human life
2. The absolute inevitability of death
3. The awesome and indelible power of our actions
4. The inescapability of suffering

I write these 4 points and almost feel like I shouldn’t say anything else, just let their power resonate. 

For me they imply a point of change in whatever situation I am going through, that they allow a new perspective. To remember how sacred it is to have a human life. That it’s human beings who have the capacity to achieve enlightenment, so we shouldn’t waste that life.

And we are all going to die, everything that is born, dies. So how am I living my life knowing this? Sometimes, when I am in doubt between one thing and another, I like to bring this reflection, if I died tomorrow, what would I rather have done today?

Then comes the question of the power of our actions, everything we do is interconnected with everything else that exists, and what we do cannot be erased, so our actions have great power, how to use it?

And finally, remember that suffering will happen in our lives, no one is immune to it in one way or another, be it an illness, the loss of someone, the end of a relationship, in short, suffering is part of life.

For me these reflections make me go back and think always about what is important, what is the way I want to live my life. And in this case this blog itself is an answer to that. How many times I think, how many people are reading this? Is my modest contribution being beneficial? For me it is not necessarily easy to maintain this space, to write, to think about how to make it visible. But when I think about these questions I resignify my own doing. 

And next Saturday, June 12th will happen the next Zencontros, with Onryu Mary Stares. We will talk about this training as she has been practicing with the slogans for more than 20 years and led the practice period at SFZC. The event will be in English. Check in in the link bellow and register!