Nearly three million flags are needed to honor every veteran who died in service to our nation. Bullets, improvised explosives, and diseases do not discriminate when it comes to gender, sexuality, or skin color, for they are impartial to judgment. Until civilization awakens to a higher consciousness mindset, the human race will continue to be imprisoned in an endless loop, reflexively fighting the unconscious self.
One awakened being, the Buddha, observed that at the end of the life journey, only three things truly matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.
As a disabled veteran, please allow some license regarding this most sacred of holidays. In remembering those who gave their all for our country, know that each sacrifice leaves behind a wake of grief for loved ones to navigate. Memorial Day to us is not the beginning of summer, but a reminder of a lingering emptiness.
Unfortunately, war is a mindset, a mental treadmill for human beings addicted to fear, greed, and the desire to control. Through the lens of the Ukraine-Russian conflict, reflect on the words of the Buddha. If we trained the mind to love, live gently, and let go of things not meant for us, I know peace eradicates warfare.
Letting go is the practice of awareness of beliefs circling in our minds and detaching from the ensuing storyline that creates a "them" or "enemy." Biases thwart the ability to love and live gently, then generate unfounded fear of "the other," which leads to generational military conflict and the loss of life in an elementary school, grocery store, or nightclub. One day, when we love, live gently, and let go of fear, world peace will render Memorial Day its own memorial.
