Several people have been in touch recently, via email and in person, who have spoken of pennies dropping. That is by way of a deeper insight into the true nature of existence or being called into what was described as the Great Silence. And with these insights the doors have opened in remarkable, some might say miraculous, ways to going beyond fear, yet not out of pain, and left enveloped in calm.

When the Universe opens up a crack there’s no mistaking this and questioning what one sees is absurd since the gap between observer and observed has been shown as an illusion. What is obvious is simply obvious, where is the need for explanations? To be sure as the moments, hours or days pass the mind definitely wants to make some sense of what has been shown or understood, and tries. However the underlying message is that something has touch where the intellect has no foothold. BTW, we are not talking enlightenment here and at the same time there is nothing that is not enlightened, from the first.

One characteristic of seeing into the nature of how things are is the quiet knowing that words are crude tools in the face of what’s shown or known. Even so it is good to simply write. Quite often I am asked to witness these words, I do not take them lightly or hold them cheap and nor should anybody else, especially the writer. Humility is the watchword of such writings and if that is not present it does not bode well for the onward path.

I’m touched that relative strangers trust enough to speak about their interior, and rightly private, world. This is not stuff to bandy about the Internet, or at least not without a great deal of care.

Out of their Great Compassion the Buddhas and Ancestors have handed down their wisdom and we have the opportunity to learn from them through the sutras, scriptures and writings so easily available now. Collectively know as the Dharma. Their words point the way however we must go on alone, with empty hands.

Tools foster conviviality to the extent to which they can be easily used, by anybody, as often or as seldom as desired, for the accomplishment of a purpose chosen by the user. The use of such tools by one person does not restrain another from using them equally. They do not require previous certification of the user. Their existence does not impose any obligation to use them. They allow the user to express his meaning in action. Tools for Conviviality – Ivan Illich

I wonder what Ivan Illich would have made of the Internet. In the early 1970’s I drank in his Deschooling Society and later Energy and Equity. For some reason his name came to mind this evening as I sat on my bed after meditation, so I Googled his name and was pleased, and amazed, to find the full text of his books online. Wonderful!

There’s a movement to get people in remote areas of the world hooked up to the Internet and it’s not all commercially driven either. Rural Wales, Africa, India and Nepal. I wrote an email to Dave Hughes, who has been the moving hand behind many projects around the world, wondering if he had some ideas on how to get the West Allyn Valley hooked up to Broadband. In the end I decided not to send it. There has to be more deserving cases in the world than us.

I remember everything about the moment when it came to me that we don’t train in order to become enlightened, more we train because it is enlightenment. Of course Zen Master Dogen makes this point over and over again in his writings. It is one thing to read something and quite another to make it ones own, so to speak. When a line of scripture suddenly becomes clear it is all too easy to jump to the conclusion that you now understand what it’s meaning is. In one sense you do and in another you’re no closer.

When the penny drops, as it did for the chap whose words I published the other day, great confidence can arise and that is good. There can indeed be times when streams of insights follow one another. Yet other times when you wonder if taking up tennis instead might be a good plan! The point is to carry on and not take what comes so personally, i.e. I’m great because I now know, or I’m a looser for even thinking about giving up meditation. Sometimes the wind blows and sometimes the sun shines. Where in this is the concept of progress on the path?

BTW, I didn’t realize that ‘the penny dropped’ was a British term. If you see something here you don’t understand please say so.

In Edmonton Canada, Michael tests a child for ADHD and ponders on the possibility of meditation helping ADHD suffers. Michaels photographs are something to behold if you haven’t visited his site lately. Mean while Thole Man has discovered a very ancient post box near Lancaster, England. I love these old boxes. As Norman says, what stories they have to tell.

Since I seem to be off around the world over in Australia Ian of Impacted Nurse posted on his mums nurse training back in 1957, photo’s too. There are a few nurses reading this blog. Three I know of anyway, one of whom will see similarities with her early 1960’s training.
Once a month a late pass was issued allowing the bearer to stay out till 10.30 PM. Within the residence, your room could be inspected for cleanliness and tidiness at any time. A single lockable draw was the only private space; all other draws and cupboards were inspected.

RB in Texas regularly posts links to Budddhist teaching video’s, which unfortunately need a fast connection to watch. And last week-end he read a couple of books published by the Shasta Abbey Press. I’m glad you like the plastic covers by the way.

Look what I received in the mail! A modern day thank you note from a small girl in Edmonton. I love the butterfly girl and the sunny mummy. Her mum is sunny too

During the last 48 hours Edmonton has been prominent in my life. A phone call to the company which hosts Jade Mountains making arrangements to pay for another five years of hiring the domain name. Edmonton was hosting the web site well before living in that city was ever thought of. In addition there was lots of emails back and forth with technical support and the billing department. Several people, who I knew previously, wrote for a variety of reasons. One person with news of her arrangements to attend the Ten Precepts Meeting at Shasta Abbey, another on accounting business.

This penny dropping message I will share with you:

After meditation this morning I had a thought that how we meditate is how we endeavour to live. Not grasping at passing ideas versus not grasping at people or things or ideas for that matter. Just being. Not separate but part of and with that which is around us. Not judging, not altering, not redirecting.

Am I correct in this view or am I reading it wrong? Is meditation that which sets the tone for how we ought to be?

I’d edit out the ‘ought’, that’s all.

Then later came this:

It (the above insight) adds a whole new dimension to the directive/comment of “Just sit” I guess. Just do everything as you would when you sit. Sit when you work or rest. Sit when playing with the cat or when comforting a friend. Just Sit.