An average person has 2.5 billion heartbeats in a life time. Every single heartbeat has meaning, or at least should have meaning. My heartbeats rush out of my chest at the speed of light. I am not sure what that is, I just can't help it, maybe I am hyperactive or just that guy that can't stop moving. The way a see it is that my heart is a like a messenger, a delivery guy... that carries my soul in and out through the journey of life and maybe just maybe through all eternity. I know one thing -- I do have a happy heart.
In Buddhism, the primary purpose of life is to end suffering. The Buddha taught that humans suffer because we continually strive after things that do not give lasting happiness. We desperately try to hold on to things -- friends, health, material things -- that do not last, and this causes sorrow. We rush through life chasing sensations and waiting for some big deal to happen to us forgetting that there is so much beauty and pleasure in small details that are just in front of us on a daily basis.
I encourage you today to make the time to stop for a minute at some point in your day and look around, but look to see what or who is interesting or beautiful or in need of a human touch and that by opening your heart you might make a difference, and it might also make you feel happy. Sometimes it's just your child smiling, others a reflection of the light on the window. Take the time to stop and see it, let some of those 2.5 billion heartbeats do their job and enjoy the natural beauty of being alive.
I just woke up, I am at The Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, my breakfast burrito just got here, cheese is dripping melted onto a paradise of flavor, dancing with jalapeños and avocados! Ay Dios Mio!!!! Que fiesta. And I am looking at it like I look at the eyes of a woman when I am making love to her. With desire and anxiety, with passion and impatience... con sensualidad y amor.
To some it's just a breakfast burrito, but for me right now it's a universe of joy and is making all my senses and my body ready for a beautiful day to create and express. And when I am finished eating my breakfast, I will encounter a moment of sadness... a sensation of melancholia, because it is finished, it is over. However, that is just to remind me that I am alive, that I am human. I loved therefore I am. I desired therefore I am. With all that in my heart I can now go ahead with my day to paint and try to make this world just a little bit more beautiful for you and me.