A Good Thing To Know

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Foxgloves in the Northern Californian mountains

Leaving this place this morning.
What to say?
The kitchen floor has been mopped
the meditation room swept
and I need to eat
before driving away.

People ask
Did you have a good time?
I reply,
It has been an OK time.

Is OK better
or lesser
than
a good time?

One thing is for sure
From moment to moment
From hour to hour
From day to day and
from week to week
everything changes.

Most specifically
the mind!
And THAT’s a good thing.

Footprint In The Mud

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My first post in more than two weeks on retreat.
Something profound to say perhaps?
Insights of a subtle and profound nature?
Perhaps.

Wonderous tho
The brown bear
Lumbering long legged
Larger than life itself.

All is well with the world.

Sitting Up High

Dear Readers,
I am in a remote part of Northern California high up on a mountain ridge. There are trees in every direction. The sky is blue and the sun is shining. I’m retreating. There is a slow internet connection so any posts that I make will be brief.

In a real way you all are sitting up here too.
In gassho,
Mugo

Charting Life

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Who’s foot steps?

Here is a thoughtful piece to ponder on. For those who are now graduating from college (University) and for those of us who still chant a mantra many of us grew up with through the sixties – find yourself, follow your dream, march to the sound of your own drum:-

Today’s grads enter a cultural climate that preaches the self as the center of a life. But, of course, as they age, they’ll discover that the tasks of a life are at the center. Fulfillment is a byproduct of how people engage their tasks, and can’t be pursued directly. Most of us are egotistical and most are self-concerned most of the time, but it’s nonetheless true that life comes to a point only in those moments when the self dissolves into some task. The purpose in life is not to find yourself. It’s to lose yourself.

It’s Not About You By DAVID BROOKS – New York Times

This article speaks to much of what I have been trying to talk about recently. Specifically that one’s course in life is charted and influenced by what we encounter rather than through finding oneself first. Hopefully we are inspired to action through our lives by the wish to make the world a better place. My brother having a nervous break down (a common term in the 1960’s) had me vowing at the time to find the cure for what he was suffering from. That single event set me on a life course, and in the process I discovered myself.

Many thanks to the Reverend who pointed out this article.