The little rafts we build and use

As I go through today, seeing to the wellbeing of the 8 dogs we’ve brought back for treatment and nursing, I need this piece of wisdom to give me that extra boost of energy to go on…

Thought of the Day – by Eknath Easwaran

Ah! would the heart but be a manger for the birth,
God would become once more a little child of earth.
Immeasurable is the Highest! Who but knows it?
And yet a human heart can perfectly enclose it.
– Angelus Silesius


In one of his inimitable images, Sri Ramakrishna says that a great incarnation is like a mighty ship that takes people across the sea. Jesus the Christ, the Buddha, and Sri Krishna can be compared to the Queen Elizabeth, able to cross the sea of life to what the Buddha calls the “other shore,” beyond change and death. But little people like you or me can at least serve as humble rafts.


We don’t have the spiritual capital to build a big boat, but we can improvise by picking up a few planks, maybe a piece of driftwood or two, and tying it all together well enough to float on the sea. That way we may at least be able to carry across our families and friends (and maybe some dogs and cats, too). Nobody has an excuse to say he or she lacks the wherewithal to cross the sea of life; we can always go on a raft.
 
Have you built your raft yet? 
Don’t wait…build it now and use it to its fullest potential.
Life is uncertain and death is certain.
Do all the good you can, while you still can.