Kindness...

Lin Jensen at Tricycle Blog writes:

From my viewpoint, Buddhism is not about getting enlightened—it’s about being kind. If I have a chance at the time of my death to take an accounting of what I’ve done, I won’t be asking how enlightened I’ve become, I’ll be asking how much kindness I’ve shown to others.

This is how the Buddha began, who set out walking the earth not in quest of enlightenment but in search of a means to end the suffering he saw all about him. If I ever hope to realize a generous, loving, merciful, nonviolent human society, I too must carry on the daily practice of generosity, love, mercy and nonviolence that the Buddha set in motion. This is the practical and ordinary work of the bodhisattva.

The rest is very well written and inspires me to reach all at once deeper into myself, and out into the 'verse around me with loving kindness. A smile of peace and love for every person I meet on the path. Tenderness and compassion, leaving the randomness of it all behind and accepting, embracing and integrating it into my soul. Individuation only helps me see and understand the depth and breadth of the souls around me. All the same, all different, all precious. Seems I have a new blog to keep track of! I love the way Lin writes!

While I so dig the bumper sticker "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty" I'm trying to make mine a bit less random! I just like to practice kindness whenever and where ever I can. Frankly, it's become somewhat, well, addictive. Being myself allows me to smile, deeply and truly and this never fails to bring a smile to someone else. If anything, it's my no so secret super power, and I love using it on everyone I meet! Mwahhhh! I'm going to smile my way to ascension this time, instead of sitting in meditation until moss grows on me like the last time! "Run for your lives folks, she's armed with a smile in her eyes, and laughter in her heart and she's not afraid to use them!"

Thanks to Monica at a Buddhist in Nebraska for bringing this to my attention!

Meditation

I'm not one to rest on my laurels so to speak. I'm always looking for something new to learn, a different view, a new technique, whatever. As such I've signed up for a regular e-mail based meditation course. Mind you I've been meditating my whole life, even before I knew what it was. I often use it as a refuge from boredom if you can imagine that... Have to sit in the doctor's office waiting to be seen? Read a magazine or meditate? Oh, such a hard choice. For me it's a no brainer, I meditate.

So I'm reading the newest tip from this course and just kind of chuckling. It's aimed obviously at someone who is brand new to meditation. So the topic is counting to 21 and back. They are talking about how hard it might seem at first. Me, I'm just having a good chuckle because sometimes I'll go to 100 and back, 200, even 500 now and again. It's great. It's so easy to do for me because I've been doing it my whole life. I mean since I was a kid.

As I was pondering it, I realized that it's so easy for me because I once spent most of a lifetime meditating. I lived in a monistary (I was a monk then) and would routinely spend entire days meditating. It was what I did. Wake up, meditate, have breakfast, meditate right through till afternoon meal, meditate more, evening meal, meditate and then sleep. Often I'd miss afternoon meal cause I lost track of time. There where chores and things like that, work around the place, teaching, what have you, but always mediation. That was Monastic life. One day I just meditated right out of physical existence. I was working on acension then, so that was the point. Now I'm working on individuation, but I still meditate regularly, daily, because it's helping me not get caught up in the world. For me, meditation is a refuge. A quiet place of stillness and beauty no matter where I am or what's going on around me. It allows me to partake of the world without being worldly, it is the reminder that while this is all very real, it's very short term.

Why do I mention this? Not to brag about how good I am at meditating, not hardly. Frankly sometimes I wonder if it isn't a crutch for me sometimes, a way of intentionally not dealing with life. Away to avoid being bored. I kid you not, it's a way not to be bored for me.

But. I know how hard it can seem for some people. Oh God's count to 21 and back? I'll never be able to do that. 100? 500? Even a thousand! As with anything, the more you practice, the easier it gets, the easier it gets, the more you practice... It becomes part of who you are, you find yourself doing it instead of say humming even... Okay, bad example. Frankly I can't think of anything it compares to... Wait! I've got it! Breathing! It becomes as easy as breathing! Best part is, it makes breathing better. You slow down some, you breath deeper, more fully, you become more present in your own life. It's so damn cool!

Tired, run down some? Meditate, it'll bring you up! All wound up, angry, restless, not feeling too good, can't get to sleep? Meditate, it'll bring you down some and let you ease into sleep when you are ready! I know, it sounds crazy, but it's true. Does all this and more! High blood pressure? Don't want to take pills? Mediation can, and when you get good at it often does, a better job than medication! Okay, quick disclaimer here: DO NOT STOP TAKING MEDS if you are on them unless, or until a Doctor says so, or you start having low blood pressure drops.

Okay, so, for those who would like to know more about meditation? How about a totally free course, that mails a lesson to you once a week for a while. Yup, perfectly free, and by someone who really knows what they are talking about. Easy as pie...

http://arobuddhism.org/meditation/learn-buddhist-meditation.html


Enjoy!

Lost and Found...

It's been said that be it for a day, month, season or life, friends are important to us. This week has been utterly amazing on so many levels I don't know if I can do then justice here now. I will however endeavor to share them with you.

Over 20 years ago my relationship with one of my sisters strained past the breaking point. She was up till then one of my closest friends. Something like 8 years ago we lost all touch whatsoever. I've been actively trying to fide her since then. She had intractable mental health issues that drove both this split between us, and my in-ability to find her. This week, I found her... in the Social Security Death Index. I'm torn, yes, I hurt some from the loss, but on the otherhand I know now she's not in pain, at least not like she was. So, my loss is really her gain. I found that I truely have embraced Buddhism and it has given me comfort and eased my pain of loss. I can clearly see the benefit to her, and me, and my path is clear. Impermanace at work.

By the same token, while I am quitely rejoicing in the clear end of her suffering, I have found someone else I lost about 16 or so years ago. A very close very dear friend and I drifted apart. Not because of her problems, but my own. I've been trying very hard to find her in the last few years. Turns out, she's been wondering about me too... Nearly two decades between us, and we picked up mostly where we left off. In one of the e-mails we swapped tonight, she said: "Do you remember being the best friend a girl could have?" Wow! I told her the feeling was mutual, and it was.

So, as I say "Till we meet again" to my sister, I welcome a long lost friend back into my life. I've gotta tell you, it's a wonderful thing! So much I've got to say, but it's 06:00 and I need sleep... More to follow soon I promise!

What 100 million dollars (or more) damage looks like...

...I've spent years in public service. I've been involved in handling emergency communications traffic into and out of disaster areas, done the whole "Twister" chasing tornadoes across Colorado thing, worked search and rescue details looking for missing hikers, been a first responder at traffic accidents involving fatalities and a whole bunch more before. Nothing I've even seen or experienced has made the claims of "billions lost" in natural disasters all that real to me. Not until Ike came roaring through the Tristate area a week ago tomorrow.

Sunday morning last I awoke to the sound of roaring like a jet engine from outside my bedroom window. The tree outside my living room window was pounding on the window so hard I was afraid it was going to break. The sky was dark and foreboding, but that was it, wind and grey sky. I turned on my two-way radio (I'm still a Ham Radio Operator with a valid license) and switched over to the National Weather Service local frequency. "...with winds in excess of 75 miles per hour... ...Hurricane Ike..."

Oy!

I didn't realize at that moment that the power for the building was out, in fact it wasn't until I walked into the kitchen to made some breakfast and the light wouldn't go on I began to suspect a problem. That was Sunday morning. Sunday night at 21:46 the power came back on for my block, and the various local stations were reporting during the day that nearly three quarters of a million people were without power. The entire City of Cincinnati was blacked out as well as MOST of the tristate (Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana) metro area. Folks were being advised to remain indoors and under cover, and not to travel unless absolutely necessary. Like I say, I was lucky, power came back on for me at 21:46. Today I drove around the metro area and as of 16:30 today, there are still entire sections of the metro area shutdown, blacked out and locked up.

I made it into the local 24 grocery store I prefer on Thursday morning at 01:22 and they had only just had the power restored right around midnight. This place is huge, like one of those super Walmart's, except it is all groceries. I can't even guess the square footage, but it's big. ALL of the refrigerated and freezer sections were utterly empty. Nothing. 15 isles of freezers normally packed with frozen food galore, empty. Diary, Produce, Meats, Fish and so on equally empty. Being a regular shopper there I knew where things normally were, and started a running total in my head of what was lost...

I stopped counting at around 100 million dollars of food destroyed.

It was a whole new experience for me. This was one of a dozen such stores in the greater tristate metro area impacted. Businesses, offices, gas stations, restaurants, everything shut down for the better part of a week. Nearly a million people who didn't get paid for a lost weeks work, all the food in their fridge and freezer gone bad, the downed trees, power lines, light poles on the highway, exit signs, outdoor signs, driving around the area the last couple of days was astounding.

Utterly astounding. All this from wind, not a drop of rain. Last count I heard was a total of two million people without power, some as long as a week. So let's just say it was (three days at eight hours) 24 hours. One day of work lost. Let's also say all 2 million people where making 4 dollars an hour. So that would be 24X4 which only 96 dollars for three days of lost work. But, it's 2 million people that lost 96 dollars each. That's 192 million dollars of lost income... Realistically, it was way, way worse than that, but you can see how the money adds up fast...

Thank you!

I'm very, very pleased to report that when Gustav made landfall this morning in the southern gulf coast it was only a Category, or Force, 2 event. Nothing like Katrina! We did it folks! Prayer and visualizations sucked the punch out of Gustave. NWS has, as of 22:00 today, officially downgraded Gustave to a Tropical Storm! NOLA was spared a horrific punishing blow, storm surge was well below the predicated (and possibly devastating) levels New Orleans is wet, and there has been, as the case is with any hurricane, damage but so far no reported deaths!!! This is a major victory for all of us, so for everyone that joined in my prayers and visualizations, you can pat yourself on the back. You all had a hand in preventing a Katrina sized disaster almost 3 years to the day later! Way to go!!!

Associate Press report:

Again, thank you all!

Blessings,

Sam

"Prayer Request" or Quantum Physics 101

Hello everyone,

It's three years after Katrina, and Gustave is bearing down on New Orleans as I type. Currently, it's giving the Marines in Guantanamo bay a taste of waterboarding, or more simply put, drowning. Gustave has hit head on, and the current track shows it heading straight for the New Orleans coastal area. It's going to go straight across the widest part of the gulf, drawing energy and moisture up and intensifying.

So here's what I'd like folks to do even if for a couple minutes twice a day for the next three days. Pray.

Pray in whatever way works best for you for the entire state of Louisiana, because the track and projected size shows it basically eating the entire state. Pray for the city of New Orleans, goodness knows they need all the help they can get.

Now, for those of you even slightly interested in doing something more, here's a simple, easy proactive thing you can do. Take energy away from Gustave. Just say NO!

Picture in your mind's eye, this monster as it leaves Cuba. Feel the "anger" the energy, the winds, rain and power of this storm. Pure, powerful, energy like a giant ball of force heading towards the gulf coast. Now imagine you have a giant cable in your left hand, and another one in your right (or if you are a righty, the other way around) connected to a giant copper pole embedded in the ground. The piece of cable in your dominant hand you wan to plug into Gustave. Handle the cable carefully, and be sure it and you are safely grounded first, and just stick it into the giant ball of electricity. Let it run down the cable into the ground. You will feel a surge of energy in, through, and around you, just let it pass harmlessly into the ground. If you are able to multi-task, so much the better, keep it going full time for the next three days. Right now as I type this, I'm doing that, feeling the energy pouring through me and into the ground like a giant fire hose.

No "belief" in magic required, no skill, no training, no manual needed, just use this visualization to suck energy out of Gustave and dump it into the ground.

I'm fully serious here, deadly serious even, because aside from the property damage, a head on hit from a hurricane takes lives.

So let's all try and work together here to take away Gustave's energy. Stop him in his tracks, have it down graded.

For those of you with martial arts training, you may be temped to visualize blocking, or deflecting the storm. DO NOT DO THIS. There is NO safe place for it to go. It's already over Cuba and getting it to take a hard right turn, or bounce off Cuba and back into the sea will NOT work. No matter where it goes right now it's going to do some serious damage. So let's work together to try and stop him over the gulf.

Anyone with me?

Sam

A Little Perfect Moment...

First, a heartfelt "Thank U" to Monica for inspiring the title of this post. Both the title, and the concept, came from a post of her's by the same name. Second, this is a post in stark, and somewhat deliberate contrast with last nights.

Tonight following a healthy and delicious dinner of Chicken, Pasta, Broccoli, Red Pepper's, Garlic, in a touch of Parmesan cheese I broke out the big guns.

Three little elliptical morsels of sheer bliss, each succulent shell slowly dissolving to reveal sweet, savory, dark and light in a symphony of tastes, smells and perfection that had me back at Ghridelli's in San Fransisco. The glorious combination of White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate perfection that slowly unfolds in my mouth. One little piece and I'm standing there in the sun overlooking the Bay, smells of water and sourdough wafting to my nose as the gulls soar above the beach. Sounds of the waves, and the ever present seals honking. Time stops as this chocolate slowly melts in my mouth, the flavors unfolding and complementing each other in perfect balance of Light, Dark and Milk harmonize to give me a little bit of Nirvana right here and now.

Am I having a Ghirdelli flash back? Nope. This mouthful of joy brought to me via the local grocery store and Mars Snackfoods. I'm not even kidding here. M&M has come out with something more evil than Dark Chocolate M&Ms. Triple Chocolate Premium M&Ms. THIS IS NOT A JOKE...

These things are amazing. Turely worth of the appelation "Premium" and they take melting in your mouth to a whole new level. I savor them, slowly, three at a time, despite the package saying a quarter of the package is a serving. Nope, three is perfect for me, spread across several minutes to fully appreciate each morsel. At that rate, this package should last a month or more. Then again, I've always been the odd child, I can open a new bag of potato chips, pull out a single chip, take two full minutes to get it into my mouth, and then put the bag away for weeks.

I don't tend to develop attachments to things easily, because deep down, in that timeless part of my soul that is thousands, even tens of thousands of years old, I really understand impermanence. So I just don't get attached in the first place. What I'm discovering however is by not being attached in that sense is every kiss is like the first one, fresh and new and magical, that special timeless moment that seems to render the universe unimportant and last for an eternity as time stops. It's my secret power for having just ONE potato chip. Every chip is the first, the last, the only chip. Timeless and eternal at the same time as being not there at all.

Mindfulness, being fully and completely present while enjoying food and company of frineds and family makes it eternal. Like being out on the river under a full moon, even if I never do it again, that one priceless timeless moment will stay with me forever. For even while I am not permanent, how I feel, what I've done, the lives I've touched, and whose have touched mine, will always be a part of me. No-one and nothing, short of the true and final death, can take anything from me. It's all here in my head and heart. Eternal and endless. Like me...

Where would we be without...

So I'm listening to the radio while puttering around the house and a PSA about breast cancer came on. The "theme" of it was where we be without the women in our lives? As he finished asking the question a thought sprang unbidden into my head "Still living in caves clubbing each other over the head?" Breast cancer is very serious, and having lost people I care about to it, I know all too well how deadly serious a subject this is. Still have a sense of humor I guess...

Some people are utterly disgusting...

...and should not be allowed out in public unsupervised!

I'm in Walgreens last night picking up a couple of refills, and this woman in front of me is having problems with her credit card...

...so I get that, I know what it's like, you use the darn fool think so much that it doesn't work in the reader anymore.

Well, no, doesn't seem to be an acceptable answer, she says to the girl behind the counter "Try it again, maybe it's dirty..."

That doesn't work, so the tech hands it back at which point the woman rubs it on her pants, looks at it, rubs it again and than does the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in public. She clicks! Out comes the tongue, and she's slobbering all over the card, dries it on her pants and say's try it now...

Poor woman behind the counter doesn't want to touch it anymore, and you know, I SO DON'T blame her. To her credit she takes it by pinching the corner of it between her nails and tries to run it again, and it doesn't work.

So it happens again, and finally she walks off in a huff. The woman behind the counter looks at me as apologizes for the overly long delay and asks if I'd mind waiting a moment longer. I just laughed and said "Not only do I not mind, but I'd feel better for your health and mine if you washed your hands first too!" So she went off to do that while the rest of us chatted about what we'd thought we saw. When she came back, she thanked us for waiting and confirmed that yes, that's exactly what we thought had happened... Ewww.....

The Artist in me and the moon...

So last night as I'm plying the waters of the Ohio river I was struck by this flash of memory. Something about the moment I couldn't put my finger on until this morning when I woke up.

There's a scene at the end of "The Hunt For Red October" that is, admittedly, my favorite because it is so warm, so human. Sean Connery and Alex Baldwin standing on the bridge of the Red October as she's plying the waters of a river, far from the view of satellites, to men from different worlds, sharing their lives under the light of the moon and nothing else. The DOP did a great job of using that quality of light to tell a wonderful story. Ryan (Baldwin) is talking about his grandfather teaching him to fish off the banks of this very river and Captain Ramius (Connery) telling the story of how as a child he too learned how to fish off the banks of a river just like this back home.

Two worlds apart, lives as different from each other as it turns out they are the same, all under the loving embrace of moonlight older than both of them, and their nations, combined and multiplied by a thousand. It is, admittedly one of THE MOST intimate moments of the film and it makes a powerful statement that has obviously stayed with me.

So last night, my brother, sister-in-law, and one of their friends all up on deck, under exactly the same kind of moon. Nearly full, and lighting up the place like daylight (at least for me) and that same intimate quality to it. Pulled the boat in closer to the Aurora Landing side of the river to catch a live band playing on the shore, but the whole time I was entranced by the light. Mind you the band was covering Floyd, and doing a decent job, that of course just added to the mood. So this morning when I woke up, my mind had figured out the light, and tied it up to something else in my head and heart. So I now have an even better, closer moment that kind of light goes with all my own.

Makes me very, very happy.