How do you find beauty in uncertainty?

I remember a similar sentiment when my life felt like it was crumbling in June 2015, where I found myself running an education program in Japan.

Trust me, there is nothing as poetic as crying in the middle of a rainy Tokyo night.

There, I discovered the great Japanese poet Ikkyu—a monk who lived in the 15th century.

For the time, Ikkyu was quite controversial—a fully realized monk who had no time for all of their pettiness, who spoke from the guts of existence and, among other things, trained groups of women to meditate in the forests of Japan (outlawed completely at the time).

One story that stands out and inspires me is when Ikkyu recounted his moment of satori, hearing the call of a crow while he was meditating alone one night on his boat on Lake Biwa in Japan. After this, he rushed back to the monastery and awoke his master, the old great Kaso, for approval of his realization.

Kaso said: "This is the enlightenment of a mere Arhat. You're no master yet." And Ikkyu responded: "Then I'm happy to be a mere Arhat. Fuck masters."

Kaso apparently responded: "I see that you have arrived."

Ikkyu had a healthy dose of "fuck it" mixed with some deep insights about the world:

something in us always wants to cry out
someone we love hears

In many ways, I think I’m drawn to poetry like this in uncertain times because it reminds me that life is suffering sprinkled with moments of beauty.

Ikkyu understood this, and reminds us all that it's not about arriving at some grand realization or becoming a so-called “master” of anything. It's about recognizing that, amid the suffering, there are these fleeting, profound moments—like crying under the Tokyo rain—that crack open a little window into something bigger.

And maybe that's enough.

To simply be present for those moments, to let them move us without needing to master or control them, is perhaps the most human thing we can do.

What fleeting moments in your life have cracked open a window into something bigger?

Today is my birthday.

Fifteen years ago, while living in Mongolia, I discovered a beautiful tradition: taking people out on your birthday to celebrate the others that surround you.

So, every year, I take someone out to dinner. I focus on all the ways they’ve made my life better that year and how grateful I am to have them in my life.

I once heard a story from the Dalai Lama about a Tibetan monk who was imprisoned by the Chinese. Upon his release, His Holiness asked him: "Were you terrified? Were you scared?"

To which he replied, "Of course."

"I worried every day that I would lose compassion for the guards of the prison."

Within this is a massive lesson, one that I have never forgotten.

The source of one’s happiness depends upon other people.

Shantideva, the ninth-century philosopher, says:
“Whatever worldly joy there is
Arises from wishing for others' happiness.
Whatever worldly suffering there is
Arises from wishing for your own happiness.”

So, to any of you reading this: thank you for being here. Thank you for giving me the space to share these stories and these lessons.

Thank you for being a part of my life.

A question to consider: How are you thankful for the others that surround you today? How can you celebrate them?