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Fancy · 10-14-2011, 11:41 AM

in an email from a friend that stuck in my mind...

"One of Thich Nhat Hanh's stories I read this summer was about a beautiful white moth that came into the circle of children he was leading. While the group was admiring it, one boy went and stomped it into the ground. Thich Nhat Hahn's response was to offer a prayer that began, "Dear white moth, please forgive us for not recognizing your beauty, your gift to us, your sacrifice to our ignorance, our violence, and our unskillfulness..." It was the word "unskillfullness" that struck me. In considering our three lifelines, "Opening to life's gifts" seems on the surface the easist of practices, but I think as a parent, the most challenging skill of all. In the midst of the chaos and everyday stuff of family life, to be able to hold off any urge to crush, miss, or allow other forces to take an experience of beauty and grace- now that is a challenge we need each other for!"

10-14-2011, 11:41 AM	#7577
Fancy Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Femme Preferred Pronoun?: She Relationship Status: N/A Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NY Posts: 3,742 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 7,696 Thanked 7,074 Times in 2,316 Posts Rep Power: 21474854	unskillfulness in an email from a friend that stuck in my mind... "One of Thich Nhat Hanh's stories I read this summer was about a beautiful white moth that came into the circle of children he was leading. While the group was admiring it, one boy went and stomped it into the ground. Thich Nhat Hahn's response was to offer a prayer that began, "Dear white moth, please forgive us for not recognizing your beauty, your gift to us, your sacrifice to our ignorance, our violence, and our unskillfulness..." It was the word "unskillfullness" that struck me. In considering our three lifelines, "Opening to life's gifts" seems on the surface the easist of practices, but I think as a parent, the most challenging skill of all. In the midst of the chaos and everyday stuff of family life, to be able to hold off any urge to crush, miss, or allow other forces to take an experience of beauty and grace- now that is a challenge we need each other for!"