The first time I met Lama Zopa Rinpoche it was sort of like meeting God. Walking into the room, he filled it with a curious other worldly presence. As the other students bowed down or cried as he touched their heads, I felt a strange combination of fear, as if my ego was going to be annihilated on the spot, and a deep exhale as if arriving home.

Dissolution, you are crushing. Like a hammer striking, you obliterate indecision and shyness. I love and hate you dissolution, you are a cruel muse that belts such wise and brutal tunes.

Each day we wake up and face the unknown, that vast space of possibilities yet to be experienced. We arise anew, coming face to face with it. Yet it is so easy to miss this magic dance, writing it off as we solidify our impending day dream.

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980’s and 90’s. Raised Jewish, I went to Hebrew school like any good little reformed Jewish boy. I loved going because I could sneak into the back with friends and smoke cigarettes.

A parachute is something we normally think of as a kind of refuge. A tool that if utilized in the right situation can mean the difference between life and death.