Playing Opossum

There is a nuisance raccoon digging too many holes in the yard.  Unfortunately, this is not it.

It took nearly twenty minutes to get this little one to leave the cage.  It was more than confused.  After googling how to encourage its departure, I used a squirt toy numerous times.  After a while, this  opossum which was playing opossum after I opened the cage, decided to leave, down the hill where it disappeared.

The cage is baited with organic produce.  I hope to catch a raccoon, the medium sized one which has dug over one hundred holes in my yard.  This has been going on for eight months.  Throughout fall and winter and now - spring.   After all, I am just passing through. I hoped this marsupial was, too.  Apparently, there is good stuff in the yard.  Good enough to dig ten inch holes.

Maybe night will be the night.

Melodic Sounds of the Forest

The woodthrush is one of the most beautiful sounds of the forest.

Featuring the melodic song of the Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) about which American naturalist Henry David Thoreau wrote: 

“Whenever a man hears it he is young, and Nature is in her spring; wherever he hears it, it is a new world and a free country, and the gates of Heaven are not shut against 
him.”


Enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3IXZMB9JJM

The Real Stories

It is hard to turn on the television, radio or read a newspaper anymore.  For the most part, I don't like any of these forms of propaganda.  There are however, a few reliable sources.

The subject of my writing today is about distortion in all its forms.  The lack of responsibility from one human being to another.  Whether it is government, Wall Street, or individuals, it has become intolerable.

Police brutality, media distortions, citizens looting - all of it is disgusting. I am beyond worn from the liberal and conservative views.  Somewhere between these, there is truth.  Let's look at my hometown of Baltimore.

I did not grow up privileged.  At any early age of eleven, I began to work.  Doing anything I could to make money.  Babysitting, cleaning apartments, washing cars, ironing shirts.  It is a long list.

The Baltimore in which I grew was relatively fair.  I didn't see much prejudice in my community.  People were kind to one another and no one thought much about race or nationality.  I was aware at any early age that women were treated as second class citizens.  Being 51% of the population, I think it is fair to call that a whole lot of people crossing racial and national boundaries.  Salaries were lower, opportunities limited for us.  We were the subject of continual sexual comments, cat calls, assaults.  You have similiar experiences.

We did stand up for ourselves.  Protests, marches, sit downs.  We didn't loot, injure or steal.  We didn't destroy property.  And, we still have a long way to go.

More and more I am distancing myself from the liberal party.  They are far too unrealistic and want a carte blanche for the disenfranchised.  It doesn't work that way.  It is tantamount to lottery winnings.  We have to evolve first.  Otherwise, we do what the rest of the world has done in this throw away society.  We discard. It is time to help one another evolve.  It will take generations.  Kindness.  Hard work.

Baltimore has its share of problems.  Looting and destruction achieve nothing.  My heart goes out to the families that worked to clean up the city.  So many good people did the right thing.  Some are mere thugs.

Yes, it is hard to believe the media.  My faith is in the people.  I should know.  I am part of the 51% of a disenfranchized group.

Confidence Gone

This has been an odd week.  It began when my car stopped on the road.  Somehow, I got it going and then left it in the garage for the weekend.  Monday morning, I drove to town to see a mechanic.  Something was clearly wrong.

The mechanics couldn't find the problem so off to Subaru. It was painful to see Snowball2 being towed.

I am told the screen in the air box was removed.  How?  I have no clue.  Unless someone at the tire place removed it thinking he was checking the air filter.  Or maybe it was stolen.  Either way, it has been a costly week.  The worst part is I have lost confidence in my beloved car.  It will take a while to get it back.  The confidence, hopefully, not the car.

On Being Nobody

I have read many of Bill Walz's columns over the years.  This one is one of my favorites:

In Zen, there is a concept utterly foreign to the American mind. This concept is an ideal; a goal of Zen practice; and it is, paradoxical for an ambition, to be “nobody.” In Japanese, this concept is communicated with the word, ”mushin,” or, in Chinese, “Mu,” which translates as “no-mind.” No-mind means to be without ego, to stand in the world as a phenomenon no more important than a bird or a flower, yet equally, no less important than the galaxies themselves. It means, in the lexicon of Zen, “emptiness.”

The way of the no-mind person is the way of living as “nobody.” Not a nobody, for this implies you ought to be somebody special, but are not. To be nobody is a conscious and positive stance in the world, not a lack or failure of stance. It is about living as a being of and within Nature, not outside it. It is in understanding that to live from ego, as if the structures of ego are who you are, is the “fall from grace,” the “original sin,” the loss of your true harmonious self. To be nobody is to live from the natural and spontaneous source of your own being, using your intelligence and faculties to be skillfully in rather than above or attempting to control life.

With no-mind, blossoms invite the butterfly;
With no-mind, the butterfly visits the blossoms.
When the flower blooms, the butterfly comes;
When the butterfly comes, the flower blooms.
I do not “know” others;
Others do not “know” me.
Not-knowing each other we naturally follow the Way.
18th Century Japanese poet, Ryokan

The “Way” that is being referred to is the ancient Chinese Taoist Way, the Way that Lao Tzu, described in the Tao Te Ching as the “origin of heaven-and-earth, it is nameless.” It is the way beyond intellectualization, categorization and judgment. It is the way of Nature, not of the egoic human mind. The “not-knowing” that Ryokan is referring to, is not having preconceived ideas about others and about life, rather, allowing each encounter to be fresh, completely and naturally what it is.

Without a preconceived identity and without preconceived ideas about life, self and others, I am, in this sense, nobody experiencing with no-mind. Anxiety, anger, depression, arrogance and selfishness are so clearly harmful and unnecessary to a person who is, in consciousness, “nobody.” The joy of living in Creation, harmonious within and without, is their natural abode.

“The adept in Zen is one who manages to be human with the same artless grace and absence of inner conflict with which a tree is a tree.” – Alan Watts

In the modern world, where we are over-burdened with the weight of our own insecure identity, with the obsessive and desperate need for significance, to be “somebody,” to contemplate the meaning of “nobody” can be a valuable reference point. It reminds us that we have fallen into a terrible hubris, into an arrogance that places us quite outside and at opposition with Nature, and with what Buddhists would call our own original nature. We have become quite caught in our egoic self-centeredness, our ambitions, opinions and judgments; afraid of being a nobody. We take everything personally and are filled with inner conflict. This is a most uncomfortable and graceless place to live. 

After all, what is it that we get so upset about? Usually it is about not having things go the way we want them to, or feeling injured, slighted, insulted or discounted in some way. Being upset is usually about the ego-self wanting more control and importance than it has. This can be true over real injury, certainly, or, as is often the case, in just not getting our way the way we want it. The modern spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle, describes our emotional distress as the result of being resistant to what is. What a simple and clear teaching. So too then, when we don’t find our identity in ego, we can face many threats and losses, real and imagined, even death, and remain calm and accepting. We take nothing personally. Few bits-of-advice can be given that contain greater wisdom.

It is important to realize – this is not about being passive. Activity and creativity are in our nature and to be active and creative in the expression of life are appropriate and harmonious. In the service of ego, however, action is seldom harmonious. Certainly, there are times to resist cruelty and stupidity, but it does not have to be from a place of fear, anger, or violent emotion. It is just the necessary thing to do. In the parlance of Zen it is then ‘”non-doing”. Certainly there are times to use effort for the benefit of our person, others and human society. Our choice is whether the effort is ego-directed, or from the place of just doing what needs to be done. Non-doing follows our deepest natural imperative, and “betterment” means to become more conscious, alive, and balanced with others, society and Nature within and around us. 

As we assert ourselves, face a challenge, respond to injury or disappointment, whether it is slight or great, we can let go of our ego, be nobody, and in so doing, become more in harmony with life as it is, and with our own life as it is meant to be. We can engage a moment that could have been one of struggle and suffering for others and ourselves, and instead, turn it into a moment of mastery. We can be masterfully active and creative just because it is in our nature to be so, noting that to “nobody,” mastery is no big deal. No big deal, but oh, how splendid. Like the stars in the night sky or the butterfly visiting the blossom, like a tree being a tree, we can be naturally human, as is said in Zen, “Just so.” 

http://www.billwalz.com/on-being-nobody-ii/

To Be Psychic

To be psychic is to be connected.  To be a bodhisattva. There is no miracle to it.  It just means to have an awareness.

In a world so confused with technology, typing Facebook quips, #atthebeach,  #withbff, all trying to appear clever, taking regular selfies and posting them, it is no wonder few possess this trait anymore. At the same time, many are going within. Bruce Jenner doesn't want sympathy, he wants an audience.  The Kardashians.  Oh, puleeze.  g-A superficial.  Bleck!

Lately, so many knowings have happened.  A few personal things with me I won't share here.  Then there is the knowing my daughter's dog has a malignancy, confirmed yesterday, knowing a man who is the executive director of a non-profit here is close to death. I have known this for some time. I saw the man today and he is at death's door, still functioning, partial steam.  I want to tell his wife. So she will be prepared.  The reality is she will be relieved.  It has been a rough marriage. Another county employee is about to be fired.  Confirmed by high sources today.  He deserves it.

I knew my car had a problem.  Today on the road it died.  Stranded, I called one person.  Instead of them phoning, responding to my voicemail, they sent a text an hour later.  They were on Facebook on their cellphone yet wouldn't spend the time to respond. That said it all.  Clearly, indifferent, disinterested.  But I knew that already.  I didn't want to walk ten miles home.  Confirmations are coming everywhere now. I am more than grateful.  Discernment is key. It is a gift.

The world is too fast for me.  Too self-absorbed.  My car shared a message.  STAY HOME.  It is where you need to be.  Too many false people out there. False social constructs.  Scare tactics.  Home.  It's a great place to be.  It is where my heart is. Always.

Alan Watts reminds me the universe, the world is where it can be.  Given the lack of awareness, the laziness to meditate, to work within.  A friend said everyone wants a pill.  No one wants to suffer.  But sometimes in the suffering, we come home to ourselves.

I am glad to be home.  Glad to have some connections.  Wanting less and less.

To be psychic.  It's just being aware.

Patience And Anger

Dalai Lama – Patience & Anger

Patience is one of the vital elements in the bodhisattva's training

As a destructive force there is nothing as strong as anger.

Patience, on the other hand, as a discipline which neutralizes anger, which prevents us from succumbing to it, and which appeases the suffering we endure from the heat of the negative emotions, is quite unrivaled. It is therefore of the utmost importance that we resolve to practice patience, and a lot of inspiration can be gained by reflecting on what is wrong with anger and on the advantages of patience.

No evil is there similar to hatred,
Nor austerity to be compared with patience.
Steep yourself, therefore, in patience
In all ways, urgently, with zeal

Those tormented by the pain of anger,
Will never know tranquility of mind,
Strangers to every joy and pleasure;
Sleep deserts them, they will never rest.

Anger chases all happiness away, and makes even the most peaceful features turn livid and ugly. It upsets our physical equilibrium, disturbs our rest, destroys our appetite, and makes us age prematurely. Happiness, peace, and sleep evade us, and we can no longer appreciate people who have helped us and deserve our trust and gratitude. Under the influence of anger, someone of normally good character changes completely and can no longer be counted on. Anger leads both oneself and others to ruin. But anyone who puts his energy into destroying anger will be happy in this life and in lives to come.

 Getting what I do not want,
And that which hinders my desire:
There my mind finds fuel for misery,
Anger springs from it and beats me down.

Whenever we think about someone who has wronged us, or someone who is doing (or might do) something we or our friends don't want—preventing us from having what we do want—our mind, at peace before, suddenly begins to feel slightly unsettled. This state of mind fuels our negative thoughts about that person. "What a nasty fellow he is!," we think, and our hatred grows stronger and stronger. It is this first stage, this unsettled feeling which kindles our hatred, that we should try to get rid of.

What disconcerts us in the first place is that our wishes are not fulfilled. But remaining upset does nothing to help fulfill those wishes. So we neither fulfill our wishes, nor regain our cheerfulness! This disconcerted state, from which anger can grow, is most dangerous. We should try never to let our happiness be disturbed. Whether we are suffering at present or have suffered in the past, there is no reason to be unhappy. If we can remedy it, then why be unhappy? And if we cannot, there's no use in being unhappy about it—it's just one more thing to be unhappy about, which serves no purpose at all.

It is only natural that we don't like suffering. But if we can develop the willpower to bear difficulties, then we will grow more and more tolerant. There is nothing that does not get easier with practice. If we are very forbearing, then something we would normally consider very painful does not appear so bad after all. If we can develop our patience, we will be able to endure even major difficulties that befall us. But without such patient endurance, even the smallest thing becomes unbearable. 

 

A lot has to do with our attitude. All of us have some altruistic thoughts, limited though they may be. To develop such thoughts until our wish to help others becomes limitless is what we call bodhicitta. The main obstructions to this development are the wish to harm others, resentment, and anger. As the antidote to these, therefore, it is essential to meditate on patience. The more deeply we practice patience, the less chance there will be for anger to arise. Practicing patience is the best way to avoid getting angry.

Many people think that to be patient and to bear loss is a sign of weakness. I think that is wrong. It is anger which is a sign of weakness, and patience a sign of strength.

When others harm us, that gives us the chance to practice patience,.. Since it is our enemies who give us this great opportunity, in reality they are helping us

So far we have been, and are still, going through endless suffering, without this suffering doing us any good whatsoever. Now that we have promised to be good-hearted, we should try not to get angry when others insult us. Being patient may not be easy. It requires considerable concentration. But the result we achieve by enduring these difficulties will be sublime. That is something to be happy about!

Praise, if you think about it, is actually a distraction… one begins to feel a bit more proud and to be more self-conscious in how one feels and behaves… and as our status increases so does our rivalry with others in important positions. We feel jealous of anyone with good qualities, and in the end this destroys our own good qualities. Being praised is not really a good thing—it can be the source of negative actions.

As our real goal is enlightenment, we should not be angry with our enemies, who in fact dispel all the obstacles to our attaining enlightenment.

It is no use saying that our enemies are preventing us from practicing, and that is why we get angry. For if we truly want to practice, there is no practice more important than patience. We cannot pretend to practice without patience.

If we cannot bear the harm our enemies do to us, and get angry instead, we are obstructing our own achievement of an immensely positive action. Nothing can exist without a cause, and the practice of patience could not exist without there being people who do us harm. How, then, can we call such people obstacles to our practice of patience, which is one of the fundamental practices of a Mahayana practitioner?

In general, it is the notion of enemies that is the main obstacle to bodhicitta.  If we can transform an enemy into someone toward whom we feel respect and gratitude, then our practice will naturally progress, like water following a downhill course.

To be patient means not to get angry with those who harm us and to have compassion. That is not to say that we should let them do what they like. For example, we Tibetans have undergone great difficul­ties at the hands of others. But we are not angry with them, since if we get angry we can only lose. This is why we are practicing patience. But we are not going to let injustice and oppression go unnoticed.

Edited by Bill Walz 

http://www.billwalz.com

Bill is a most excellent therapist, teacher, friend