This is André Rieu, a Dutch violinist and orchestra conductor, known for his lavish concerts featuring marvelous soloists – singers and players.

André shines.  And he’s had his share of both tough times and standing ovations.

I think of the words of Myokei Caine-Barrett, Shonin, a Buddhist master:

A sword is not made by being praised.  A sword is made by being hammered, heated, and plunged into cold water and hammered again.  The purpose of the hammering is not to destroy the metal.  It is to make the metal into a sword.  The purpose of a vow is to make us into a bodhisattva, and the bodhisattva is not one who has escaped suffering but someone who has learned to use suffering as nature.

André’s sword is his violin, and his smile, and his orchestration of inspiring concerts.  All have been accompanied by moments of ill health – a despair that touches us all.

You may ask about the meaning of bodhisattva … 

“It is the Sanskrit word for a being who is devoted to awakening and to acting for the benefit of all that lives.”  (Jack Kornfield)

André has benefited countless numbers of human beings, with his music and his soul.

And what of awakening?

“An awakening is a sudden, profound shift in awareness.  It most commonly refers to the expansion of consciousness.”  (AI)

***

Look at those eyes

Alive, piercing, encompassing

Eyes that touch others in the audience …

Play on, André