Buddhist liberation is about fully knowing our stories, and not being trapped by them. Stories have their own power. We cannot ignore them. Trying to force our old stories to go away just reinforces their grasp on us. But after listening quietly and carefully to the old, worn fables we have been telling ourselves, or that we were trained to relate by our world, we can gently let them go, see that they are only a part of a greater story including all beings. To paraphrase Walt Whitman, we each are vast, we each contain multitudes of stories, including stories about bodhisattvas, and about awakening from stories. Awakening to the suchness of reality, of our life just as it is, we find fuller liveliness that the bodhisattvas are ever guiding us toward. Growing into the dynamic vitality of our deep interconnectedness with all being, we in turn become guides to others, helping awaken the life all around us.
---Taigen Dan Leighton, in Faces of Compassion---
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