So we're tonight celebrating, it's a little bit of a different talk in class.

This is a called visac, which is the most important Buddhist holiday of the year, and it's

a celebration of the Buddha's birth and his enlightenment and his death.

And you might wonder how a, it could be all three, it's the question.

And it's, you know, because they feel like they have different flavors, but actually you'll

find as we explore tonight in the mythology that each one tunes us in and expresses qualities

of awakening.

So we're going to just explore it and, and to say that you don't have to be a Buddhist

to find that as you reflect on this myth of awakening, let it be your own exploration

of how your life's journey is unfolding.

Because the power of any real myth is that it's archetypal.

And I find this, I love reflecting on the pieces of this story of the Buddha's awakening,

because it really is a, is a live one, it's very contemporary.

So that's the invitation I'd like to read to you a poem by the poet Caveri.

She writes, I believe I am destined for great things, a gentle breeze guiding me to places

only a compassionate warrior would dare travel.

My breath is my light as I enter the dark cave of fear.

I sit on the cold floor, my heart on fire, warming this cave, warming the world with fierce

tenderness, with the possibility that the hero's journey starts within, the invitation

open to all, with the possibility that the hero's journey starts within, the invitation

open to all.

Thank you, Caveri.

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