Nothing to hang on to

10/20/1982, New Delhi, India

I am in New Delhi for briefing with WHO and taking up my new assignment to Indonesia.  Unfortunately my children are not with me and are expected to join a few weeks later.  I have anxiety over this and I am longing to be with them.  At the same time I am facinated by India, by the challenges ahead of me, and by the new world that I have stepped into.

While in New Delhi and in my spare time I started to explore the book stores.  By doing that for the first time I came across Buddha's teachings which ended up helping me tremendously in staying grounded during this very challenging period.
I learned that:

• Buddhism is a philosophy, a way of thinking and not a religion
• The teachings have one goal and that is to realize the capacity to be happier, wiser and clearer
• Buddha is a title: one who is awake to the highest reality
• Buddha said my teaching has only one flavour: Liberation
• He saw that ceasing of craving stops the cycle of bitrth, death and suffering
• After realizing this all his craving stopped and he became total luminous, clarity - Buddha

According to the teaching:

• Nothing is eternal
• Nothing is always pleasureable
• There is nothing to be afraid of or to protect
• There is nothing to hang on to
• The cause of suffering is clinging, craving, and desier
• Change is synonymous with life
• Wisdom is constantly seeing the things as they really are

The realization of teachings which of course is much more than what I have written here, gave me a sense of freedom and a sense of compassion for myself and others.  I felt empowered to stand firm and to face life's challenges.  This was the beginning of my awareness journey and after that other teachers and teachings followed one after the other.

Best of all, my children joined me after eight long weeks :-)