Buhay Ka, Struggles in Mortality, Glimpses of Eternity

        When I surfed the web in search of the meaning of the lotus flower in Buddhist and Hindu tradition, the following description came up:

The lotus rises through the murky waters of ponds and lakes yet, when it blooms, it floats upon the surface, its petals shining and untainted by the mud from which it emerged.  In the scriptural language and sacred poetry of Hinduism and Buddhism, the lotus perfectly embodies the soul, rising up through the murkiness of worldly experience until it reaches the surface of the spiritual realm and blooms, vibrant and pure, free from all taint and attachment.

        The lotus is the symbol chosen by Buhay Ka, a Hong Kong cancer support group that has done volunteer work for more than four years.  Today, a little book of less than two hundred pages will be launched at the Sacred Heart School of the Canossian Sisters on Caine Road.  When I was looking for a book title, I thought of the volunteer work that several OFWs, mostly women have done in the arena of cancer prevention and providing healing support for those suffering from the disease.  The memories were vibrant with the laughter, tears and the countless speechless gaps of time spent with friends who have struggled to confront the most fundamental issue of their mortality.  Their struggle most dramatically highlighted the “mud of life” or the inevitable struggle to find meaning and hope in situations of fear and crushing despair.  The cancer survivors courageously played out the drama of mortality before those who are well who tend to overlook and deny the reality of everyone’s mortality.  Amidst the ups and downs of hope and despair, many doggedly held on to whatever is a source of light and comfort.  Most of the survivors have learned to face the darkest of fears and descended into the depths of uncertainty.  But they always returned to the surface to breathe and gaze at the dazzling sun.  Their struggle with mortality does not crush but trains the spirit to seek the way towards the light.  Mortality does not fall apart into nothingness but gradually opens up into the light.  It is not an easy journey.  It is treacherous, in many ways similar to scaling a steep mountain surrounded by ravines where no one survives a fall.  But both survivors and their friends learn to climb.  They are the lotus flowers growing out of the Hong Kong mud.

This is Buhay Ka, the story of their Struggles in Mortality and their Glimpses of Eternity.