Reflective few days

I've had a few really reflective days. I went out last night and became upset on the way home. Upset because I miss the person I love and because I know I have to try and break free of these emotions.
Today though, I've been reading some Dalai Llama writings and thought I'd share these with you. If all humans aspired to live their lives in this way, I feel the world would be free of suffering.

The Goal

Most people have heard of nirvana. It has become equated with a sort of eastern version of heaven. Actually, nirvana simply means cessation. It is the cessation of passion, aggression and ignorance; the cessation of the struggle to prove our existence to the world, to survive. We don't have to struggle to survive after all. We have already survived. We survive now; the struggle was just an extra complication that we added to our lives because we had lost our confidence in the way things are. We no longer need to manipulate things as they are into things as we would like them.

Four Noble Truths

(1) the noble truth that life involves suffering
(2) the noble truth that suffering arises from craving
(3) the noble truth that suffering ends with the removal of craving
(4) the noble truth that there is a way to the end of suffering.

3 unwholesome truths

(1) We must overcome exploitative greed with global generosity, helpfulness, and cooperation.(2) We must replace hatred and revenge with a policy of kindness, tolerance, and forgiveness. (3) We must recognize that our world is an interdependent, interwoven whole such that irresponsible behavior anywhere has potentially harmful repercussions everywhere

Inequalities

What is the cause of the inequality that exists among mankind? Why should one person be brought up in the lap of luxury, endowed with fine mental, moral and physical qualities, and another in absolute poverty, steeped in misery? Why should one person be a mental prodigy, and another an idiot? Why should one person be born with saintly characteristics and another with criminal tendencies? Why should some be linguistic, artistic, mathematically inclined, or musical from the very cradle? Why should others be congenitally blind, deaf, or deformed? Why should some be blessed, and others cursed from their birthspray.

May We Appreciate and RememberToday
may we appreciate this food and remember those who are hungry.
May we appreciate our family and friends and remember those who are alone.
May we appreciate our health and remember those who are sick.
May we appreciate the freedoms we have and remember those who suffer injustice and tyranny.

Going to Sleep

Falling asleep at last, I vow with all beings to enjoy the dark and the silence and rest in the vast unknown.