Today's teaching: When in doubt, search, no, Live the 4 Noble Truths. Ultimately it's all about the detachment from clinging, clinging that seems oh so important, but on further inspection, is superfluous if one is mindful. That said, attachment is what it is. My good friend D and his nice wife T have recently found out that she is suffering from a type of breast cancer. Yesterday doctors performed a lumpectomy, and furthermore had to take out some lymph nodes. She will be due radiation and chemo in February. D had to cry to me on the phone a couple weeks ago. Since 1988 he has been my dear friend. The thought of him losing his dear T raises important questions about clinging. With me, it raises equally important questions about compassion. Can I show the same to the bum on the street or the right-winger as I can to D and T? The hope is yes. Can I show the same to my spouse in times of difficulty? The hope is yes. Certainly I will lift up D and T in this difficult time.
I appreciate the thoughts of Peter at The Buddha Diaries. 'Tis challenging to be both unattached but active, entangled even if one wants to be more. These partisan times demand detached-yet-active participation by those of us who think to be more.
I recently read of the 'Winterthur' witherod viburnum, a most spectacular shrub by all accounts. We live on .25 acres, so it's a challenge to add shrubs to the existing landscape. December's Fine Gardening has a nice discussion of shrubs with fall color, and this viburnum is well in the mix. It's a compact grower @ 6', so I've decided to add it somewhere. With the kitchen renovation the back yard will take more center stage this year, so this small grower will find a home in our already full backyard.
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(Thanks to The Modern Day Plant Hunter for this image).In line with the updated backyard plan, I'm also considering a mediation space, a platform, grassy knoll, soft place, don't know. I want a place to sit, meditate, contemplate and rest here on the homestead. I hope to incorporate present foliage as part of the meditative spot. A nice brass Buddha would be nice too, but they're rather expensive, so I'm not sure of that expense. As "real" winter has established itself, I look forward to the transformative appeal of such a place. That said, the here-n-now, the mindful present instead draws attention. Maybe attention isn't the word, but the focus on what life is, what life presents now, at this moment. I also recently read of the meditative quality of winter, of the barren landscape, the wind, the "cabin fever" and monotony that being enclosed can bring. Can I, we, find the same simplicity and enjoyment out of a windswept bitter terrain as we can in spring blooms or in summer fun?
The hope is that this new blog- I have another of different subject matter- involves discussion of matters more personal and spiritual. I haven't been a particularly spiritual person in the past, but life's journey is calling me in that direction. Maybe it's age or maturity, fear, I'm not sure yet. This is part of the greater path that I'm choosing.
Tomorrow's goal will be to smile, don't you think? Yesterday's "Daily Enlightenment" subscribed to the goal of kindness to oneself. The first and foremost kindness granted should be to oneself. Henceforth that kindness can be generously poured into the beings close and distant from you. I enthusiastically subscribe to this. Am I being selfish? No, not at all. I've always been hard on myself, have loathed myself even, and if I can smile at me, myself and I, then surely I can and will smile at those in my surroundings. They deserve a smile.
Peace to all beings.
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