Your imaginary friend

Jack Kornfield did a recent seminar along with Dr. Daniel Siegel. During this conference, Jack asked everyone in the large seminar audience to close their eyes and imagine a person who would come to help them in a time of crisis. The point was to imagine anyone, real or fictitious, realistic or absurd, that would give some comfort to the person in time of need. This demonstrated that help was always near. We can all imagine easily that we are not alone, that someone can give us helpful advice, and that there is always a way out. I hope you can engage in this exercise and find it helpful. By the way, my imagined person was the Buddha Sakyamuni of 2600 years ago. Yours doesn’t have to be the same as mine and that’s important to realize. A favorite grandmother is just as good as any other potential personal Buddha.