SoulCollage: I Am the One Who Climbs Out of the Wreckage

I Am the One Who Climbs Out of the Wreckage

I made this card at the end of August before the flooding that has impacted some of my favorite 

Colorado towns, specifically Boulder, Lyons, Estes Park.  Many others also impacted.  It is not over

yet as it is still raining hard today.  I am not near a river, lake, creek or dam so I have been spared

except for a leaky roof and closed highways.

This card is not just about the Colorado flood of 2013.  It is about the strength it takes to climb, at

least psychologically and spiritually, out of life's pressing challenges.  What does it take to climb

out of the wreckage?  The right knowledge, equipment, supplies, and tools.  Good fortune created

through mindfulness, meditation, and right practice.  Grace.  In life it is likely that one will lose one's 

physical home and all that is familiar through events that cause suffering: a natural disaster, illness,

loss of a job, loved ones, personal injury, or warfare; and still attain the peace that endures.

In this card the woman, who coincidentally has the same face as the Quan Yin figure, is able to

make it to safety through her climb towards this shrine at the cliff top.  Beautiful, blue mandala-like

flowers bloom despite the shake-up below. Having strength, through  spiritual practice and the

determination to make gradual progress, allows me to reach the goal.  Strangely the goal is also

the path and the practice.  I am so grateful, I am so blessed.

Just saw this quote from post by  Domo Geshe Rinpoche and it feels connected to this card:

Among the Vows of the Medicine Buddha upon attaining Enlightenment, 
according to the Medicine Buddha Sutra are:
To illuminate countless realms with his radiance, enabling anyone to become a Buddha just like him.
To awaken the minds of sentient beings through his light of lapis lazuli.
To help beings follow the Moral Precepts, even if they failed before.
To heal beings born with deformities, illness or other physical sufferings.
To help relieve the destitute and the sick.
To help heal mental afflictions and delusions.
To help the oppressed be free from suffering.