Our Precious Blood Stained Bones

+WonderfulWorld

The corpse is bloated, blue, and festering. 

The corpse is crawling with insects and worms. 

Crows, hawks, vultures, wolves tearing it apart to eat. 

All that is left is a skeleton with some flesh and blood still clinging to it.

All that is left is a skeleton with some blood stains, but no more flesh. 

All that is left is a skeleton with no more blood stains. 

All that is left is a collection of scattered bones-- 

Here an arm, here a shin, here a skull, and so forth. 

All that is left is a collection of dried bones. 

The bones have decomposed, only a pile of dust is left.

(Awakening the Heart, Thich Nhat Hanh)

What we were was dust, what we are is dust, what we will be is dust. The truth that we have a consciousness and a mind that can fathom and comprehend that truth is precious indeed.

What are we doing with this collection of flesh, blood, and bones?

How are we challenging this mind that clings to these blood stained bones?

Is our life seizing this precious opportunity or sucking it dry completely?

What we think, how we feel, why we are . . . Do we even consider any of it?

Some may think these blood stained bones and thoughts of decaying corpses are all too morbid.

Challenge those perceptions. 

If our bodies and minds didn't change, we would never grow up. We could never never overcome. We could never fall in love.

It's because of the very nature of our decaying, dying flesh that we can do anything with our lives that is much more than just consumption and destruction.

Challenge perceptions. Challenge the mind. Challenge the body. Challenge this life.