I've pointed out before that Christmas is a Buddhist holiday. Now comes a brother (not Buddhist, so far as I know) who's found the same wisdom in this ancient pagan celebration.
The lyrics (below) to Eliot Bronson's Christmas Song mirror orthodox Zen teaching on the self. They also gibe perfectly with the timeless Yule theme of the past ceding to the future.
This year I'm sharing Eliot's brilliant meditation because Christmas is a tough emotional time for many of us. Especially those who find themselves alone, cast out, lost, or remorseful amidst all the love and conviviality. Some even come to hate this season.
But my brother is telling it like it is here. And his Zen-friendly, John Lennon cadences are all the more powerful for their simplicity.
The millstones of time are a gift, brothers and sisters. And you are a great deal more than anything you've ever been or done. It's a central tenet of the Buddha's teaching: you can change your bio anytime.
Merry Christmas.
You can start over.
Again and again and again.
If you've got nothing else to celebrate, celebrate that.
(By the way, this recording is available for sale here. Note that Eliot has donated it to a charitable project that funds pediatric cancer research. At a big 79¢ US for the file, it's a karmic bump we all can use.)
CHRISTMAS SONG
by Eliot Bronson
You're not the place you're from
You're not the things you've done
In a world turning 'round the sun
Isn't that strange?
You're not the name you're called
You're not who you recall
Because after all
We can change
Merry Christmas
You can start over
You can start over
Merry Christmas
You can start over
Whenever you want to
You're not what you can do
You're not what you've been through
And the lines between me and you
Are lies
You're not what you can see
Not even what you believe
And there's a part of us that's always free
Like the sky
And Merry Christmas
You can start over
You can start over
Merry Christmas
You can start over
Whenever you want to
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