What are the riches in my life that cannot be lost?

I love this question! I want to say the smile of a friend, the light in their eyes, a moment of deep empathic connection, sharing wonder and beauty in nature, the subtle togetherness glow that arises when singing with friends, or in the presence of deep honesty. And yet I think all this in some way does pass – it fades from memory, and the moment itself is in some way gone forever just as it ends, like a ripple in a stream.

And I think at the same time there’s that which doesn’t pass, which is held in these experiences, and which holds them. And I don’t think that’s really able to be named, only pointed at, though I like words like beingness, source, God, essence, spirit, love, presence. Ultimately these words seem to create another duality though, as if presence were some Platonic ideal thing that existed apart from everyday things that come and go.

It seems to me any experience of the heart is in some way eternal, maybe like a ripple in a stream is made of water and never really separate. And it seems to me the riches we try to hold onto – a self-image, a role, money itself as an abstract measure of worth, power, achievements, anything that attempts to create an ultimate and final measure of our worth – is trying to grasp the flow of this stream, to fix it in one place, and so it passes with extra pain, for the people we love, for ourselves, and for the planet.

What a great question! I love that “the answer” itself keeps feeling inadequate, keeps changing as I look into it more, because the question points to a reality I can’t grasp with words…