Sam and I have roots in the Asian continent where the verities of life seem constantly juxtaposed with the illusions of lack, corruption, and greed. We left our friends in the Philippines, not for dollar-greener pasture, but for Love. In other words, when we flew out of our homeland, it was not because we were impoverished and corrupted; rather, we took our flights with healed hearts and open minds, ready to apply our life lessons onto our Western contexts.
This Easter, my aweSAM friend came to visit me in Las Vegas. Together, we explored the opulence of the glamorous casinos and the barrenness/bareness of the arid desert. We drove against strong winds up the mountains and across the vast valley. We zigzagged through The Strip and through the Joshua Tree Forest to Grand Canyon in Arizona. In these contrasting environments, Sam and I reaffirmed our views of the richness of all of life as well as its meaningful nothingness. Dualities in Oneness. One Mind in Dualism.
Let me share with you some of Sam’s worldviews.
Me: What do you think are the best positive lessons you learned from your parents that are valuable to you now as an adult?
Sam: From my mother, I learned courage. To push boundaries and never accept any given situation as one's definitive status in life. From my father, I learned the soft skills of humor and also leadership as service.
Me: How do you take care of yourself?
Sam: I take care of myself physically by walking, going to the gym, doing core and aerobic exercises. Emotionally, especially at work, my Zen meditations and framework help me engage with compassion. My inherited spiritual tradition of the Roman Catholic faith is a constant source of imagery, while my Soto Rinzai Zen path provides me the grounding and distance to elevate my view of life. Mentally, the exercises of meditation ease over-thinking.
Me: What beautiful changes are you seeing in the world now?
Sam: The realization that Resistance is futile, as it only serves to strengthen opposition; that growth is inevitable because of change; and that our true nature reflects an unbounded potentiality for iterations and growth.
Me: What are your top 3 wins/successes in life?
Sam: Persisting in Love, Acting with Courage, and Lifelong learning.
Me: Who are your 3 or 4 role models?
Sam: The Christ. Our Father. The Buddha, whom I kill. The Essential Self.
Me: What great spiritual or esoteric lessons have you learned as an adult?
Sam: The attended mind deserves more attention than the worries of the world.
Me: What legacy / life work would you like to leave the world?
Sam: To document in writing, theater and film the immigrant experience of the "invisible" Asians in the US: the Filipino...in the time of Duterte & Trump
Me: What is your current focus and your motivation to do that?
Sam: Self care is World Love. Resistance is futile. My motivation: strengthening capacities strengthens agency.
Me: Any encouragement to your friends and family?
Sam: The persistence of your heart is greater than the persistence of your fear. The deepest stories coming from our "Why" reveal the greatest source of our power as individuals. Persist in knowing yourself by attending to your mind day by day, and you will uncover ever-deepening realizations of your purpose in life.
To the Grand Canyon, Sam offered a poem. Here it is:
water
In some places in the world, there exist still, unmoving
ponds. They exist to collect water, and detritus, the water blaming itself for
having fallen into its situation, the pond smiling to itself knowing its
purpose is fulfilled...But water has a way of seeping out, seeping into things,
slowly, inexorably, through capillary action; it will seek its own level. Be
the water you are meant to be, roar over cliffs and plunge headlong into
torrents, roar like the surf and swell like the tides...no pond will ever
contain you, and when you leave, a trench as grand as a canyon will reveal the
truth of what had tried to contain you...and all will marvel at how long it
took, how patient, and how much Love, oh, so much Love!!!
***
(Follow Sam Prudente on Facebook to get to know him better.)
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