Tonight is a time for reflection & remembrance, so I'm skipping "this day in history" and SPARK. Congress today announced a resolution to honor the victims of Saturday's attack & to honor the bravery of ordinary citizens and first responders who prevented what happened that day from getting any worse.
The text of the resolution is here, and we're sure to hear more about these fellow Americans tonight.
From my Zen Buddhist tradition, I offer this poem authored by our founding teacher, Zen Master Seung Sahn, in hope that it can provide compassion and comfort.
The Human Route
Coming empty-handed, going empty-handed -- that is human.
When you are born, where do you come from?
When you die, where do you go?
Life is like a floating cloud which appears.
Death is like a floating cloud which disappears.
The floating cloud itself originally does not exist.
Life and death, coming and going, are also like that.
But there is one thing which always remains clear.
It is pure and clear, not depending on life and death.
Then what is the one pure and clear thing?