This morning we awake to the cries of Baby Tate and a telephone call from New Mexico. Tate is grumpy, but always willing to giggle for a moment when Pappy Zen makes odd faces. Susanne, our neighbor at the Refuge, called to say that my old friend, Shaker, was collicking last night. A veterinarian visit later suggested she was OK. This morning Susanne says she is lethargic.
To be alive means to feel. Sometimes we feel good, sometimes not. Sometimes we are happy, sometimes not. To be awake means that when we are hot, we are fully hot; when we are cold, we are fully cold. Enlightenment does nothing to make what is there better. It is what we call being one with the universe and the universe is a vast container. Being one with being sick means fully being sick, present with our sickness, completely. A thought of escaping our sickness leads us to suffering as it adds duality to our consciousness, separating us from ourselves, adding a discernment.
When someone we care for is suffering, we suffer. When we are hot, we are hot. When we are cold, we are cold. As we are these things, we naturally do what we can within them. We care for our suffering. We add a blanket, take off a blanket, but we do so without the effort of mental anguish.
The ability to do this comes with the wisdom of mindful presence.
Be well.
Roshi, Thank you for that post.. Last night I was locked in a small sports car for about twenty minutes. This is a new keyless car. The locks and windows are all controlled by a computer chip in a small fob that for some reason was not responding to my clicks. it was dark, I couldn’t see well and no one was around. I felt my heart rate increasing and I started feeling very claustrophobic when I realized I could not get out of this car. My first thought as my heart started pounding was that I was going to have a heart attack and die. I was being completely irrational but all I could think of was that I wanted out of that car immediately. I took a deep breath and told myself to calm down, that I was just sitting in a comfortable car, something that I do all of the time. It was not really a dangerous situation. The situation was whatever I thought it was. It was my imagination that was creating a sense of danger. There was nothing to be afraid of. Eventually someone came to my aid and I was rescued. But it really drove home the point that the only real danger was my own fear getting out of control.
ReplyDeleteWith palms together, Hello Jeff. You are welcome. I am pleased that you stayed 'present' and survived sitting in the Jeff-Eating sports car :) Our minds do both wonderful and terrible things. Best to be at the helm. See ya!
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