Yearly Archives: 2005

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Autumn Reflections.

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Chikakoo Lake near Edmonton.

A couple of weeks ago one of the priory members drove me due west of Edmonton. It was a beautiful clear day and after lunch, and having done some business in a nearby town, Jean and I went for a walk around a series of small lakes. Pictured here is just one of them. It was a still autumn day when all the life and energy is falling into the ground. But not all life! Quite suddenly there was a rustle in the rushes beside the path and out swam a beaver dragging rushes, so close. She proceeded across the lake and in the distance we saw that she disappeared into the bank. Perhaps there was some lodge repairs going on. A number of smaller beavers swam around in circles greeting the returning parent. What a treat!

Jean went with her daughter last week-end to log beaver activities. All they saw were lodges and tracks and other evidence but no beaver. They went again this week-end.

Of course there is no knowing if the beaver was female. I decided arbitrarily that it was.

Knowing how I enjoy sharing a poem now and then here is a haiku I saw in a glossy book in Chapters (our local book chain) and copied it. At the time, oh about a month ago, I thought ‘Hah’! ‘Interesting’? Now I appreciate it.

Autumn
even the birds,
and clouds
look old.

Zen Master Basho.

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Last of the Autumn Leaves.

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Last Sunday, during our working meditation period, the last of the autumn leaves were raked up by Chris and Mike.

I thought some of you might like to see what the Priory looks like from the front before we get into winter when the lawn will be permanently white until March. It has been an interesting time these past weeks as we all wait for the first snow fall. Sort of like waiting for the other boot to hit the floor. Last night there was a light dusting of snow but nothing serious. Traditionally it snows on October 31st but not this year so all of those ‘trick or treaters’ were able to be out in force in their costumes. I had quite a number of children turn up at the door on the 31st to receive their bag of ‘Cracker Jacks’. That is caramel covered popcorn for the uninitiated.

The Edmonton Priory is, as you can see, half of a semi detached house. In North America this kind of house is called a duplex by the way. There is a ‘half basement’, meaning that part of the basement is above ground. We use the basement for teas and talks and it has held over 30 people. The meditation/ceremony hall is the main room on the ground floor with a kitchen and dining room running along behind the main room. This is a house built in the 1960’s with the open plan arrangement so common then. Upstairs is an office, bathroom and two bedrooms, one for me and one for guests. The heating comes via a gas furnace in the basement, the warm air is blown along ducts and comes up through a number of openings in the floors. It’s very efficient. So that’s it, the place where I will be this winter.

Sometimes I catch myself looking around and realizing how fortunate I am to have a roof over my head, food in the fridge and good people coming to practice here. When out and about on the streets of Edmonton one sees a lot of people with their hands out for cash. Lots of people living rough there are, however, houses for homeless people, nobody could sleeping out in the winter in Edmonton. People do die of the cold each year though. Brrr!

Edmonton etiquette: When being dropped off at ones house the driver waits to make sure you have got into the house before driving off.

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I’ll Take The High Road….

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Here is a picture of the High Level Bridge in Edmonton, you can just see it above the light colored bridge. It IS high.
Walking across this bridge to-day I heard myself silently singing “I’ll take the high road and you’ll take the low road….etc” Being up high does seem to nurture a lightness of spirit. (Could a reader give us a references for that song)? I returned to keeping my mind in gear as the cyclists share the same path as the pedestrians and the bikers travel fast. While the sun still shines, and the snow has not started to fly, I am taking the opportunity to get out and about and take the air when responsibilities allow.

The priory is close to a main north-south road, the bus service is good and somebody donated a bus pass for October which has come in handy. Last winter I had the loan of a car and I’d thought not having one this year would be an obstacle to getting business done. In actual fact not having one has proved, so far, to be a positive thing. Years ago, in the 1970’s, I sold my car and traveled by bicycle, a ten speed touring one. At first it was a bit of a wrench however there we plus sides too. It was liberating to be able to use the cycle lanes in heavy city traffic and get to work faster, to not have to be concerned with finding a parking space and, for long trips, the advantage of taking the bike on the train for free. Now I find that foot and bus travel brings me directly in contact with the ‘heart-beat’ of the place and people. That is good.

The other evening one of the people, a person, who comes (on foot) to meditate here said something simple, yet inspiring. Here it is, “I came to it myself-that accepting, ‘whatever’ (physical pain, emotions, my present circumstances), doesn’t mean liking it!” Simple yet true. Yesterday he came in the door of the priory with a 17 pound bag of bird seed in his arms. I thought he had carried it ten blocks, but he hadn’t. He had asked a friend for help and he’d got a ride (a lift as we say in Britain). So, acceptance has an active side to it too. Right?

Back to the High Level Bridge for a moment for the people (person) who is mad about trains. There is a rare chance, during the summer months, to ride across the bridge on rails. Interestingly, if you follow that link, you’ll see what the weather is like here too.
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Jackrabbit.

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One thing about living a more settled existence is that people can be confident of getting letters to me via the mail system! I have an address where I live and will reliably stay put for some time. (A year actually.) Having been here five weeks I’ve accumulated a lot of papers on my desk. While sorting through them this morning three hand-written letters, received since I arrived in Canada, sifted to the top. What a rare and beautiful sight! There is something so special about receiving a hand-written letter. The writing styles are unique and something of that person them selves is communicated through the flow of the pen on paper. So, just receiving the letter is a gift in itself and then there is the gift of what the words speak of. The considered and thoughtful snapshots of lives being lived in distant and often lonely places, the silent reflections put onto the page with obvious care.

I was contemplating these letters while out walking in the neighborhood this afternoon. Yes, and thinking about my own poor writing style and spelling ability in comparison with these works of art. Thinking of my habit of purposely scrawling letters when not sure of the correct spelling. Yes, and I was also wondering if the honorable thing would be to write back in kind, by hand or if a phone call or an email would be good. Yes, and I was all the while mentally writing a posting about hand written letters for movingmountains. Personally I regard this kind of walking and thinking as ‘unhelpful ruminating’. Then I happened to look up from the pavement where my eyes invariably focus when….‘unhelpfully ruminating’! A jackrabbit bounded into the road and then crossed the urban lawns and flowerbeds, disappearing eventually behind some bushes! Not something you see every day of the week and it certainly caught my attention. It also distracted me from my thoughts.

There is a saying in Zen that goes something like, when walking just walk, when sitting just sit, when eating just eat, and so on. Then there are those things and incidents that cross ones path, so to speak, which bring one back to this simple teaching.

Here are words from Noygen Senzaki before he died, sometimes called a death poem. He was a well-known Zen monk who lived a wandering existence in America and died in1958.

“Friends in Dharma, be satisfied with your own heads.
Do not put any false heads above your own.
Then, minute after minute watch your steps closely.
These are my last words to you.”

The Iron Flute, 100 Zen Koans,
With commentary
by Nyogen Senzaki,
Tuttle Publishing.

Came across this poem while having a cup of tea after returning from my walk.

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House Keeping.

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I have changed a couple of things around leaving comments at the end of postings. The reason being is that I have had a few ‘comment spam’ left which are basically advertisements. A lot of this is done automatically by software which adds comments unrelated to the content of the site. Most often they are anonymous. (I removed comments from the last two postings because of the comment spam I received to-day.)

So, what I have done is enabled the ‘word verification’ option for posting comments. You will see what that means when you go to leave a comment (they are always welcome). What this does is prevent automated systems from adding comments to the blog, since it takes a human being to read the word and pass this step.

The other thing I have changed is to not permit anonymous comments. This means, if you haven’t done it already, you’ll need to become a ‘registered user’. Not got the time to write about that now however if you run into problems drop me a note and I can help you register, or do it for you even. I’ve also change the time shown at the bottom of each posting to reflect where I am, rather than have Japan time…! Which is where I was, some time ago now.

Rest assured that I will continue to make postings so keep coming back and checking from time to time. Hopefully I will get into a regular writing routine as I settle down to priory life.