Chrysanthemum & Dalai Lama XIV

Whether one is rich or poor, 
educated or illiterate, 
religious or nonbelieving, 
man or woman, 
black, white, or brown, 
we are all the same. 

Physically, emotionally, and mentally, 

we are all equal. 

We all share basic needs for food, 

shelter, safety, and love. 

We all aspire to happiness and we all shun suffering. 

Each of us has hopes, worries, fears, and dreams. 

Each of us wants the best for our family and loved ones.

  We all experience pain when we suffer loss 

and joy when we achieve what we seek. 

On this fundamental level, 

religion, ethnicity, culture, and language make no difference.

~  Dalai Lama XIV

For Toek - Ranunculus & Rumi

 

In your light I learn how to love.

 

 In your beauty, how to make poems. 

 

You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you,

 but sometimes I do, 

and that sight becomes this art.

~ Rumi