Photo: Steve Jobs, two days after resignation. Via Reddit.

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In the Buddhist tradition, we do tonglen for those who may be suffering. Still, impermanence is fundamental to this life, and death may come at any moment. For any of us.

In all traditions, we give thanks to those who’ve inspired. While, even now, we can not gloss over reality—that Apple is far from eco-responsible, and (unlike Gates and his billions) gives nothing to charity (per Jobs), and doesn’t work with fair labor—it has in countless other ways innovated and trailblazed and made uncounted connections and other inspirations possible.

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share.

No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.

And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

~Steve Jobs

2005 Stanford commencement speech

Bonus: a Silicon Valley FOM told me this was worth watching.

It’s long; will watch now, join me: