Yearly Archives: 2009

Films/Books

Stop In Readiness

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3_Bee_having_a_rest.jpg
Photo by Maria

Awhile ago I wrote a post titled Stopping. In it I talked about settling. How easy it is to rattle on through ones day with not a gap, not a crack of a moment to catch up with oneself. Let this photo be a reminder to notice the gaps, cracks and spaces, however brief, perhaps just a breath, to stop. To simply just stop, poised as this bee is, ready to take flight.

Watched the film Grey Owl this evening. Maybe it is the love of Canada that has me enjoying this improbable, yet true, story.

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Bless ’em All

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To be perfectly frank I got back to my room this evening a bit disturbed. I can’t remember the name of the film but I do remember the focus was on the trap of celebrity in the film industry. A satire and there was cynicism in it too. There was a point being made, and I got it!

Earlier in the evening I found myself making up a song to the tune of Bless ’em All, a war song made famous by Vera Lynn. It is a celebration of today, of meeting a shoal of Jade readers here for the Festival ceremony for Manjusri, Bodhisattva of Wisdom and more besides:

Bless ’em all, Alfie, Mum, Da Ad, and all
And Jenny/Sue/Dave/Dave/Brenda/Angie… and the short and the tall
Bless all the readers and contributors three
Bless all the sunshine and the dah-di-dee-dah
For I’m saying good-bye to them all
As back to their billets they crawl
You’ll get no (fill in the blank) this side of the (Great) Ocean
So cheer up Rev. Mugo Bless ’em all.

Anyway, seeing Jim’s post One Perspective On The spirit Of Jade rounded off the evening rather well. I’d wanted to make note of Ayse talking about merit, just in case this aspect of things got over looked, and Jim got there first. I think my little ditty complements his post quite well…. Do I embarrass myself!

Overcome Difficulties

One Perspective On The Spirit Of Jade

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The first reading of Ayse’s posting on Dealings with Pain had me refreshing the altar in our home on which we have all our memorial pictures and ashes of family, friends, and pets. I made an incense offering and sat watching the smoke rising and curling and dispersing. I let go of the surge of love and liberation that Ayse’s penetrating description of sensing the thoughts of love and compassion directed toward her brought up. Letting it go, letting keep moving, circulating to where it is needed and benefiting from it passing through.

I made a copy of Ayse’s posting and gave it to a friend who has been struggling with cancer for 18 months. I read that Dave Robinson had passed on a copy to his mother and then followed the link to Dave’s blog. And then I read of Angie’s struggles and of her style of wisdom. And then I read of Adrienne and her daughter’s plight. I think of those who have read and not left comments, of those who have read and allowed themselves to feel somehow less than because they don’t feel adept at handling things as well as Ayse. I think of Rev. Master Mugo who has felt her way along with Jade Mountains in the fog, in the sun, and with bright going-on-ness.

And as postings go on, I sense this kaleidoscope of images of us all. As this compassion and love circulates, we are all Ayse, Dave, Dave’s mother, Adrienne, Adrienne’s daughter, Angie, Wick, Andrew, Jim, R.M. Mugo, those of us feeling less than at the moment….. At the same time, it seems so important to see each slice of color of this kaleidoscope, each individual.

I am reminded of a quote from Lily Tomlin, an American actress and comedian, who once said: Let us not forget, we’re all in this alone. May we all look past the either/or choices of a world that looks to be this or that and see that there is More Going On.

Daily Life

A Response to Pain

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Ayse’s writing has brought up a lot for me. Her responses to suffering are inspiring and very helpful. My own suffering and ill-health is nothing like as bad – I certainly have plenty of room for complaint. For many years I have struggled with the push-pull of acceptance and rejection of symptoms, though not life threatening or as excruciatingly painful as Ayse’s, have certainly given me many hours of discomfort and distress.

I watched a documentary the other day. The film crew followed a group of severely wounded soldiers returning to the UK from Afghanistan after being blown up by land mines. All of them had had both their legs amputated, one had also lost an arm and lost his sight for many months. The way that they accepted their injuries, the pain and devastation of their bodies, was truly incredible.

I know we cannot easily make comparisons and I get what Ayse says when she advises not to judge another’s pain, but I keep thinking about those soldiers and now Ayse, and can just remind myself of their bravery, and it is helpful. And it is brave to endure without flinching or need to escape. Ayse had the conditions, to realise that trying to escape or flinching away would add to her suffering.

The other thoughts that came to mind was the memory of watching my daughter’s suffering when she was run down by a scooter in New York and had a badly fractured pelvis. Her pain and suffering was intense and as a mother what I wanted to do was to take this pain away from her. I could not, of course, take any of her suffering away from her – it was hers to endure. I was careful not to express any thoughts in that direction. What I knew was that I needed to be still with her and trust. I remember at times when it seemed good to do, doing some of the things that Ayse found so helpful – the distractions, talking to her, finding programs on TV leaving her to her visitors. And then being there, in the morning, after the loneliness and despair of the night.

Daughter continues to have pain from her injuries and will have to endure a number of painful surgeries in the future. She does not have the benefit of meditation and Buddhist teachings to support her but somehow she and those soldiers and many others suffering in many different ways, endure.

I suppose what I am aware of now is the connectedness of the human condition. All we can do is look to our own practice (and what I mean is everything we can do is look to our own practice) – a practise that is for the benefit of all living things.

So thanks Ayse for sharing.