It's been a unique birthday...starting with archana,

It's been a unique birthday...starting with archana, then tea, then sunrise, then some unsettling emails, followed by sitting onstage with Amma and handing prasad to Amma, then lunch, then a quick rehearsal for my song offering at darshan this coming Thursday, then a walk and a blazing sunset, followed by a dharma talk and, finally, some private time at the Kali shrine, where I asked her to help settle what has been unsettled. I know we are all born for "a reason" but sometimes I still have to search for what that reason is. My hope is that my birth has been a gift to this world--not a curse. And so, as I get ready for bed here in India, I return to my Bodhisattva vow:

May I be a guard for all those who are protector-less,
A guide for those who journey on the road,
For those who wish to go across the water,
May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.

For all those ailing in the world,
Until their every sickness has been healed,
May I myself become for them
The doctor, nurse, the medicine itself.

~ Shantideva