Thanks to Arun
for the beautiful introduction, and to the students for asking me to speak at
their graduation. It is my honor
and my privelege to share these remarks with you.
My
hada madrina, or my fairy/witch
godmother tells me that there only two emotions in the world –love and
fear. But they take thousands of
different forms. There can be no
love where there is fear.
Conversely there can be no fear where there is love. She also shared
with an expanded version of the Metta
or Loving Kindness Prayer. Here is
how it goes
Metta (Loving Kindness
Prayer)
May you be safe and protected from all
forms of inner and outer harm
May you be safe from all forms of fear
May you love yourself and laugh
May you love yourself and be kind
May you love yourself and be wise
May you love yourself and take delight in
your life
May you be peaceful and at ease
May you be well and happy
In
light of the various ecological, economic and socio-political crises in the 21st
century, the world is full of fear.
Your challenge is to confront it and replace it with love. Those of you who know me will know that
by love, I do not mean sentiment, nostalgia, romance or benevolence towards
others. Among the thousand forms of love that I advocate are critical
engagement or critique, and responsibility rather than rights, a call to
reflection and not just (re)action.
So
as you move on out the world and become a professional more than a student I offer you a modified version of the loving
kindness prayer that my hada madrina offered me
May you have the courage to question
May you be true to yourself
May you be true to others
May you giggle
at your successes and your failures
May you have allies
May
you embrace differences and disagreements
May you learn to give and to take with
grace
May you be curious and open to the world
Thank you.
