lotusinthemud

letting paths and flowers be my teachers

Paths and flowers, paths and flowers. There’s a guy working in our street, replacing fences with beautiful metal railings like the ones that were here when the houses were built 100 years ago (the metal was all requisitioned during one of the wars). He’s going to give us a quote and yesterday he said he’d ask a mate to quote for a new path. But I like the path I have. It’s cracked. And, in the cracks grow little wild violets, the children of some that I was given by my teachers’ mother. And, as I walk down the street, I see that Irene’s violets are spreading in little clumps in little crannies. When I see them I smile. They have a life of their own and it’s nothing to do with smartness or properness or staying in their allotted place. That resonates.

And today a friend sent me this:

Be crumbled.
So wild flowers will come up
Where you are.
You have been stony for too many years.
Try something different. Surrender.

~ Rumi ♥

when to say “no” or “not now” - a buddhist approach to skillfully setting boundaries.

:: link

Published on August 24, 2011 by Toni Bernhard, J.D. in Turning Straw Into Gold

The Buddha didn't talk about setting boundaries. It's a decidedly 20^th-21^st Century concept. The Internet is full of articles on how to say "no" or "not now." I'm going to address the question of when to say them.

As I reflected on the best way to assess if it's time to set a self-protective boundary, the Buddha's teachings on wise speech came to mind. In essence, he cautioned us to speak only when what we have to say is true, kind, and helpful. Wise speech is one of the factors on the Buddha's eightfold path to the cessation of suffering. What we say matters because speech that is true, kind, and helpful alleviates suffering as opposed to intensifying it.

In setting wise boundaries—that is, in deciding if it's time to say "no" or "not now"—I suggest applying a variation of the Buddha's three-part test: Apply the test of true, kind, and helpful to the effect of your speech and actions on yourself.

Is it true to yourself? Ask yourself if the speech or action you're about to engage in is true to your values. Are you going to say or do something because of social pressure or just because it will impress others? I spent a good part of my younger years speaking and acting in just this way, even if it didn't reflect my deepest values, and I suffered for it. (I once smiled in implied assent to a racist comment because the speaker had contributed money to my husband's political campaign; although it happened 25 years ago, I can still feel the self-incrimination arise as I write this.)

:: continued here

opening the door, or the dharma of cancer

::link via Karen Maezen Miller, who says "Like chemotherapy, the Dharma arrives drip by drip. A powerful essay on faith, love and cancer."

(please go to the link above to vote):

By Roos Stamet-Geurs | August 22, 2011

Today I found my Zen teacher. I could repeat that line over and over again, fill a whole page with it or shout it from the rooftops. A teacher. For me.

Two years ago I stood on a crossroad: walk the path labeled ‘work’ or the one labeled ‘motherhood’? Or tread on a undeveloped one somewhere in between? I couldn’t decide since I struggled with the perception of others, for being an ambitiousless mom. I wondered how I calmly managed a 24/7 busy household with the endless laundry, dirty diapers and lack of sleep, when my friends persistently complained about my kind of lifestyle. For me it wasn’t a matter of surviving, I actually found much satisfaction in my life as it was. Then I stumbled upon an article by Karen Maezen Miller on the mindful home . I had heard about mindfulness before, but I didn’t suspect it could be practiced when washing the dishes or vacuuming the floor. Suddenly I understood what kept me going, since it surely wasn’t the amount of spare time, let alone sleep, I was getting.

bitter-sweet

A friend has written:

Utterly exhausted from catching up on emails from people in distress. There's so much suffering in this world. It helped to re-read Zen master Dogen from Chapter 4:

"The bitterest cold that penetrates to the very bone makes it possible for plum blossoms to send forth their fragrance all over the universe."

new criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome unveiled

Page 1: Introduction

Characteristics are:

1.  Marked, rapid physical and/or cognitive fatigability in response to exertion, which may be minimal such as activities of daily living or simple mental tasks, can be debilitating and cause a relapse.

Page 2

2.  Post-exertional symptom exacerbation: e.g. acute flu-like symptoms, pain and worsening of other symptoms.
 
3.  Post-exertional exhaustion may occur immediately after activity or be delayed by hours or days.

4.  Recovery period is prolonged, usually taking 24 hours or longer. A relapse can last days, weeks or longer. 

5.  Low threshold of physical and mental fatigability (lack of stamina) results in a substantial reduction in pre-illness activity level.

B. Neurological Impairments 
 
At least one symptom from three of the following four symptom categories: 
 
1.  Neurocognitive Impairments 

a.  Difficulty processing information: slowed thought, impaired concentration e.g. confusion, disorientation, cognitive overload, difficulty with making decisions, slowed speech, acquired or exertional dyslexia.

b.  Short-term memory loss: e.g. difficulty remembering what one wanted to say, what one was saying, retrieving words, recalling information, poor working memory.
 

buddhism - the path of devotion versus the path of the intellect

Read :: here

on-line creative writing courses

Check out Fiona and Kaspalita's 'Writing Our Way Home' courses here and here.

I've started Eastern Therapeutic Writing - Day 2 and I'm hooked!

elderhood: a buddhist approach to aging well

An interesting article by Lewis Richmond:

This March I turned 64 -- one year away from Medicare, two years away from Social Security. So there it is: I'm a baby boomer, a Buddhist, and one individual face to face with his own aging. But I'm not alone. Each day and every day for the next twenty years, 10,000 boomers will turn 65. This is a fact with enormous implications for our politics, our society -- and, I believe, our spiritual life.

Forty years ago, when my Buddhist teacher Shunryu Suzuki was in his mid-sixties and the students around him were mostly in their 20s and 30s, someone asked him, "Why do we meditate?" He replied, "So you can enjoy your old age." We all laughed and thought he was joking. Now that I am the age he was then, I realize he wasn't joking at all. Some aspects of growing old can be hard to enjoy, and a spiritual practice can definitely help. This isn't just theory; the Handbook of Religion and Health by Koenig et al. presents research showing that people who have a regular religious attendance or practice live, on average, 7 years longer than those who do not. That research result is even more significant when we remember that for the first time in human history, people will be living in relative good health into their 70s, 80s, and even 90s. What are we all going to do with that extra gift of time?