Our greatest opportunity for spiritual growth comes from serving others. We best serve another by completely accepting them as they are. This implies that we have completely accepted ourselves - and the reality that contains this acceptance.
Understanding the journey of another requires that we sometimes shoulder the pack of a stranger, and that we let our feet be washed by a saint wearing rags. Buddha said we should work out our own salvation; Jesus exhorted us to pick up the cross and follow where he went. Those that shine most on the path are those that accept, and even celebrate, differences between individuals and faiths. The greatest make themselves the servants of all.
Padmasambhava, patron saint of Tibet, would have said, in modern parlance, "I eat duality for breakfast!" Duality is a product of ignorance and delusion. On the ocean of fear, duality is the sense of separation that one feels from oneself and the universe. Fear produces duality. Duality feeds fear.
I have a deep belief in the capacity of humans to grow spiritually. We must be highly respectful and mindful of the differences between traditions, but we are free to benefit from the spiritual endeavors of any truthful seeker.
Let us celebrate our lives, share our compassionate selves, and find harmony in the beauty of the Earth.
