A little sun goes a long way in bringing a cat contentment, especially after a lion cut. He enjoys the sun, he stretches, he cleans and grooms. Life is complete.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Cat in the Sun, Too!
A little sun goes a long way in bringing a cat contentment, especially after a lion cut. He enjoys the sun, he stretches, he cleans and grooms. Life is complete.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Bonzai in the Rain
My dear friend's Bonzai that I am taking care of -- the flowers bloom so brightly!
Monday, June 04, 2007
Home Improvement
coming soon....
well actually later...lol. How time flies. It's been many months since I was doing major home improvements. I sitback to write with some 5 months hindsight. Home improvement has many different meanings or includes many different aspects of life and relationships and is a very interesting and fertile ground for studying and reflection.
The story of the monk whose duty it was to sweep the floors, comes to mind. It seems very glaringly obvious when you are cleaning a rental for sale just how the dirt seems to go everywhere no matter what you do. The dirt never goes away, but it is placed somewhere else. Maybe to the next room or to the garbage bag. If you wash the dirt down, then it changes, desolves and becomes a liquid, but it is still there. It does not cease to exist, it just changes. Any feelings I have about that dirt, whether I enjoy cleaning it, feel a sense of accomplishment or burden, or am completely apathetic; well, those are my choices and do not begin from the dirt itself but from me. And so cleaning is a great way to study self.
Dealing with contractors is another way. LOL! This one can be a big challenge. My how there is the struggle for dominance, and you have to fight your own pride when someone you are paying does not do that for which you paid handsomely. So many judgements in such a statement. And so much stubborn 'truth' as well. I know many people who have been disatisfied with work done for them to improve their homesteads. Including me! It is almost a cliche by now. There are many good people out there who will do a just and honest job for you; best to keep their names on a handy list! And to the others? Well, that's a wee bit difficult.
How to keep your sanity and peace of mind, communicate like civil people, and reach an agreement? Hmmm. Can be difficult. For the laws on customer rights, I'd suggest googling it and studying. Sum it up to say that sometimes you negotiate, sometimes you argue, sometimes you cut your loses, and sometimes you run! Every situation is different. And there is the potential for much bitterness and resentment, but who do those feelings serve, ultimately? You? Them? Just rememeber as Yogananda says, "Never let another steal your peace." No matter what. This is very good advice, I think and it helped me in hindsight, lol, perhaps not so much in the moment, but that is for another lesson for me, I think. But best to let bad karma stay where it originated. If someone is trying to give you the gift of the thief, you needn't accept it.
Lastly, with home improvement. Sometimes I find that the more I do what I think is cleaning and home improving, the more 'flaws' are revealed for me to see. No matter how much I clean and polish and scour it will never ever be perfect. That's the truth, improvement reveals more places to fix and a sort of mental balance takes hold in the mind, trying to find the 'just right' point. Sometimes it is best to just sit in the middle of a spacious sparce room, set aside the scrubber, and breathing in and out. Close the eyes. Open them and see all the judgments of dirt and broken corners, and spider webs and dust. Close eyes breathe in and out, then open and just see it as it is. Let it be as it is. Be as you are.
well actually later...lol. How time flies. It's been many months since I was doing major home improvements. I sitback to write with some 5 months hindsight. Home improvement has many different meanings or includes many different aspects of life and relationships and is a very interesting and fertile ground for studying and reflection.
The story of the monk whose duty it was to sweep the floors, comes to mind. It seems very glaringly obvious when you are cleaning a rental for sale just how the dirt seems to go everywhere no matter what you do. The dirt never goes away, but it is placed somewhere else. Maybe to the next room or to the garbage bag. If you wash the dirt down, then it changes, desolves and becomes a liquid, but it is still there. It does not cease to exist, it just changes. Any feelings I have about that dirt, whether I enjoy cleaning it, feel a sense of accomplishment or burden, or am completely apathetic; well, those are my choices and do not begin from the dirt itself but from me. And so cleaning is a great way to study self.
Dealing with contractors is another way. LOL! This one can be a big challenge. My how there is the struggle for dominance, and you have to fight your own pride when someone you are paying does not do that for which you paid handsomely. So many judgements in such a statement. And so much stubborn 'truth' as well. I know many people who have been disatisfied with work done for them to improve their homesteads. Including me! It is almost a cliche by now. There are many good people out there who will do a just and honest job for you; best to keep their names on a handy list! And to the others? Well, that's a wee bit difficult.
How to keep your sanity and peace of mind, communicate like civil people, and reach an agreement? Hmmm. Can be difficult. For the laws on customer rights, I'd suggest googling it and studying. Sum it up to say that sometimes you negotiate, sometimes you argue, sometimes you cut your loses, and sometimes you run! Every situation is different. And there is the potential for much bitterness and resentment, but who do those feelings serve, ultimately? You? Them? Just rememeber as Yogananda says, "Never let another steal your peace." No matter what. This is very good advice, I think and it helped me in hindsight, lol, perhaps not so much in the moment, but that is for another lesson for me, I think. But best to let bad karma stay where it originated. If someone is trying to give you the gift of the thief, you needn't accept it.
Lastly, with home improvement. Sometimes I find that the more I do what I think is cleaning and home improving, the more 'flaws' are revealed for me to see. No matter how much I clean and polish and scour it will never ever be perfect. That's the truth, improvement reveals more places to fix and a sort of mental balance takes hold in the mind, trying to find the 'just right' point. Sometimes it is best to just sit in the middle of a spacious sparce room, set aside the scrubber, and breathing in and out. Close the eyes. Open them and see all the judgments of dirt and broken corners, and spider webs and dust. Close eyes breathe in and out, then open and just see it as it is. Let it be as it is. Be as you are.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Melodic and Monotone
Healing others or fearing them -- a choice in everyday moments. Absorbing the beauty of the world is a gift from the universe to be taken without flinching -- fear of its passing or forfeiture is the harbinger of the ruse, the ego. And the soul retreats to save itself for another imagined day.
But again I remember, absorbing the beauty is a gift from the universe--a gift always poised there, open and authentic. What is there to fear?
All is well known to a degree and yet so much more floats in the ocean of uncertainty and that word brings fear to so many places but it might best be accompanied, not to stand alone. Rather, it might be uncertainty and calmness or tranquil uncertainty. It is what it is. And how wonderful it is. When floating upon the waters we may not know where we travel though we think we have a raft ' just in case'. Yet, just floating...how tranquil how peaceful the place, the moment. Liquid pillows rolling into shimmering moving bed. Vast and peaceful.
Death is certain -- all else, living , breathing, day-to-day, is uncertain. So how beautiful the day of uncertainty! Love it. Love the gifts of beautiful beings floating in this so-called sea of uncertainty. Oh! How fine this way-- to absorb, to observe, to accept as is. Rain or shine.
I recall a story I have told twice today - once to the taxi driver who was driving me back from a cancelled flight and again to my manicurist. This will be the third telling today. There was a foreign exchange student who had never seen snow. The first fall was the wonderous big hug floating moist snowflakes you can catch on your tongue. Blessed be! A beautiful moment. By the end of March we would laugh and ask her about snow. She would grimace and say, Ah! No more snow!!
What had changed? Some would say boredom appeared. Some would say the newness faded. Others would say judgement entered. Others would ponder her fear of the scarcity of time and her need for experience. Still others would say her fear appeared from experiences with that year's snow storms. Some would sum it up simply by saying knowledge happened. I think on the wisdom in Don Miguel Ruiz's book, "The Voice of Knowledge". How true.
And perhaps the instinct for survival thwarts our bliss. We learn, we judge, we speculate and life reveals its temporality -- its fading spark -- until all things bleed into sameness. The polarity of the unique "Ah!" joy of first experience and the sameness of a lifetime of experiences reveals the key -- almost as a paradox for both hint of a greater truth.
In facing the sameness of everything and the freshness of everything -- life breathes breath over and over but every moment is new no matter how many times judgment dulls it or duty dims its importance. It is unique, authentic. The secret splendor children know and we sometimes forget -- every moment is incredibly new, unique, authentic. And every moment is the same as the next -- is one with its entirety.
Sages, prophets, messiahs give us riddles to pull us closer and split us appart in an instant to be absorbed into the greater universe. Unique and the same. Melodic and monotone.
But again I remember, absorbing the beauty is a gift from the universe--a gift always poised there, open and authentic. What is there to fear?
All is well known to a degree and yet so much more floats in the ocean of uncertainty and that word brings fear to so many places but it might best be accompanied, not to stand alone. Rather, it might be uncertainty and calmness or tranquil uncertainty. It is what it is. And how wonderful it is. When floating upon the waters we may not know where we travel though we think we have a raft ' just in case'. Yet, just floating...how tranquil how peaceful the place, the moment. Liquid pillows rolling into shimmering moving bed. Vast and peaceful.
Death is certain -- all else, living , breathing, day-to-day, is uncertain. So how beautiful the day of uncertainty! Love it. Love the gifts of beautiful beings floating in this so-called sea of uncertainty. Oh! How fine this way-- to absorb, to observe, to accept as is. Rain or shine.
I recall a story I have told twice today - once to the taxi driver who was driving me back from a cancelled flight and again to my manicurist. This will be the third telling today. There was a foreign exchange student who had never seen snow. The first fall was the wonderous big hug floating moist snowflakes you can catch on your tongue. Blessed be! A beautiful moment. By the end of March we would laugh and ask her about snow. She would grimace and say, Ah! No more snow!!
What had changed? Some would say boredom appeared. Some would say the newness faded. Others would say judgement entered. Others would ponder her fear of the scarcity of time and her need for experience. Still others would say her fear appeared from experiences with that year's snow storms. Some would sum it up simply by saying knowledge happened. I think on the wisdom in Don Miguel Ruiz's book, "The Voice of Knowledge". How true.
And perhaps the instinct for survival thwarts our bliss. We learn, we judge, we speculate and life reveals its temporality -- its fading spark -- until all things bleed into sameness. The polarity of the unique "Ah!" joy of first experience and the sameness of a lifetime of experiences reveals the key -- almost as a paradox for both hint of a greater truth.
In facing the sameness of everything and the freshness of everything -- life breathes breath over and over but every moment is new no matter how many times judgment dulls it or duty dims its importance. It is unique, authentic. The secret splendor children know and we sometimes forget -- every moment is incredibly new, unique, authentic. And every moment is the same as the next -- is one with its entirety.
Sages, prophets, messiahs give us riddles to pull us closer and split us appart in an instant to be absorbed into the greater universe. Unique and the same. Melodic and monotone.
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