Every now and then, over the years, I have search my computer and blog for this photograph. I took it in the late autumn of 2007. This evening a good sangha friend found it on her computer. So in the middle of this current great explosion of greenery here is a skeletal winter Sycamore.
I’d like to say more
How to express the
feeling of deep
delight?Trees dressed
green
in their party
best.
Growing up in Sussex it was rare to see a Cowslip and I can’t ever remember seeing Wild Orchids. Picking them was completely out of the question, that might be the case still. Now the roads are lined with Cowslips and Wild Orchids, though shy, are around where I am at the moment.
Wild flowers tend to be demure items in the countryside scene. Fungus and mosses and wild flowers were the gem finds of my early years. I’d stop and gaze at them, and still do. However hard gardeners try to make their displays look natural, nature wins hands down. Ah lovely. I’m now wondering why I’m waxing on about the natural world!
I think it is about the delight of those intimate private moment while out in the fields and lanes. That silent ongoing conversation which isn’t always about words. When I was crouched down to take this photograph of the Cowslip a couple walked past on the path. I remembering feeling slightly embarrassed and muttered something to explain myself. It felt a bit like being discovered whispering appreciation of a toadstool or talking to a bird in a bush! So it is that there are moments in life which are….? Well I just don’t have the word to hand. I think such moments are close kin to just sitting. Just a thought.
It was my turn to start the ball rolling with this months Field of Merit Newsletter. Each month there is an original article written by one of us. Unfortunately I ended up using a photograph I’d intended to use here in my article. Well here is the photograph anyway and if you would like to read the article that goes with it you can access it via the Newsletter Archive.
The post is not only about the joys of eating Dandelions and other vegetation plentiful at this time of year or about foraging in general. Though it might have been since I am enthusiastic about eating what grows out in the wild. I always have been enthusiastic however not a very active practicing forager. There is a reason for that. And it is the same reason why you don’t see campaigning on Jade. Yes, sometimes there will be a link to something that desperately needs spiritual merit injected into it.
It is good to work to relieve suffering, including taking up a cause. Many effective campaigns are started by people whose lives have been touched by an incident which propels them to help others in similar situations. In a way, and it’s a long story, Jade Mountains is the answering of a vow I made when I was 13. My brother had seriously gone off the rails mentally and had been taken to hospital. I decided I would find an answer or solution to his plight. Simple as that. The Teachings and practices of Buddhism are what I found. Eventually. So here I am doing my best to point to a way out of suffering, or rather to transcend suffering. Buddhist practice transforms the lives of those who take it up and keep going without falter. Fundamentally it is a life of faith which can influence the lives of beings universally. The spiritual difficulty of championing a cause comes when one can’t put it down!
My mission, if I have one of those, is to help point out a way to put things down. Not to encourage people to pick things up! While at the same time engendering compassion.
It is notoriously difficult to photograph creatures. The smaller they are the harder it is to have all the moving parts distinct and visible with a facial expression they would be proud of! In the case to these two Jack Russell Terriers, parked outside of a local sandwich shop, I had a lucky break. The man in the shop explained that they were advertising.
We are constantly on the move physically aren’t we, let alone the shifting about in our heads! Even when sitting still doing nothing in particular one part or another is moving. Wriggling, adjusting position, raising an arm to adjust clothing, crossing and recrossing legs. Our face is constantly animated even when not talking and simply listening to somebody else. I notice this particularly when using a webcam to talk on Skype. If the other person is animated, shifting about a lot, it can be disturbing and general restlessness can set in on both sides of the screen! The non talking head can be as expressive as on a silent movie. On the other hand I’ve sat in on a Skype call with several people on camera who were not restless and that was a deeply moving event. At times we all fell silent together. It wasn’t planned to be that way.
Talking on-line and being able to see oneself in the ever-present tiny pop out window and getting constant feed back is great real-time feedback. It is showing up habits of how ones speech is augmented by well established mannerisms. And how physical discomfort or fatigue effects the quality of the speaking too! The other day I saw this happening and seeing and hearing the feedback I quickly switched to a more supportive chair. That made all the difference. Without that visual feedback I’d probably not have noticed the fatigue and slogged on regardless. That is my habit!
I am not advocating for rigidity or for obsessing about body language, not at all. More that how we are in ourselves has an impact on those we are with. And the more we are within our own skin the more others may well be encouraged to do the same. Here is the first photograph I took of the two dogs.
The Buddha’s Birth is celebrated around this time of year. Although traditionally we look at May 8th as THE day we tend to be pragmatic and schedule on a week-end close to that date so families can come and join in. Gladly I was here today at Throssel and able to be part of the ceremony. I love to sing and there’s usually quite a bit of that during this particular event. The children are very much part of it all and receive a present at the end from the abbot. This year was no exception.
I was feeling a bit ho hum I must confess this morning. A combination of a few factors but mostly suffering the effects of a long drive yesterday up from West Wales where I’ve been for the past five days. Then something happened which made my day. At the end of the line of youngsters waiting to be given a present stood a two year old girl. Picture it. A huge hall, lots of strangers, lots of empty space to get lost in. All the children received a blue box which they were told was heavy. There were no more blue boxes left by the time it came to the small girl to receive her gift. She was last in line and there were two lotus blossoms left on the gift tray. Presents or decorations? Standing there alone before the imposing abbot the girl was given a huge lotus blossom. Gasp! She received it with dignity and then skipped and ran across the empty space back to her mother in obvious joy and pleasure. It was a moving moment and seeing her so obviously happy made my day. But then there were other moments after that.
Later this riff from a Beatles song….
There is a hole in the roof where the light
gets in
Stops my mind from wandering…
Off.
Then I ran out of steam. Should be something about looking up but nothing came to me.
Happy Wesak Day to all who visit here. Thanks little family for making my day and to ‘dad’ who is a regular and faithful reader.