It has been over forty-nine days since Rev. Saidō’s passing, and this is a significant juncture spiritually, marking the end of the period after death known as the Bardo, which is said to be an interim state when the connection of the newly-dead with this ‘world’ fades and their ‘going on’ is more in focus.
It is now time for us to let go, and our ‘going on’ to come into focus too. The flames of the Toro (the fire) represent and are the blazing up in the immaculacy of emptiness, a profound ‘letting go’.
Go on your way, dear Rev. Saidō, we love you. It is time to allow the flames to wave you on your way.
One member of the Telford Priory congregation was in Spain on the 18th March and not able to attend the funeral/reception for Rev. Saidō. This is what she did, aided by her husband, to remember him…
The clearing, sorting, recycling and dealing with Rev. Saidō’s business as his executor continues. I anticipate this process taking months rather than weeks. So I remain here at the Telford Priory for the time being.
The Priory continues on with three zoomed meetings and in person, Wednesday and Friday at 8.00 and Sunday mornings at 10.00 am. It is no longer necessary to book a place each time one visits, as was the case during Covid times. Do let us know in advance that you will coming.
After an all too brief trip to The North (Throssel) I’m heading back to Telford where I will continue to deal with Rev. Saido’s business and belongings. As well as help keep the Priory active and moving along.
As I keep on saying to myself, ‘one step at a time’, and ‘things will unfold’. There is no predicting the future, though one can have LOTS of ideas about it!
It is just two weeks since Rev. Saido’s Funeral and reception and a month since he died. Goodness! Is that possible? I’m still incredulous at this swift turn of events that has me propelled into a set of circumstances nobody could have anticipated or predicted. Least of all me.
People ask, ‘how are you doing’? People, well meaning people, advise ‘look after yourself’. ‘Doing fine and yes, I’m looking after myself’ is my response. In more words than that.
Now seated in the cafe at Tebay Services, north bound, with chips and coffee. Reflecting…. While my ‘world’ has changed vastly, in circumstance and appearance and my mind is occupied with different concerns, what has changed? Fundamentally?
So this is a question for everybody what ever your life of flux has brought to you. Right now. There isn’t a cut and dried answer, there IS an answer on a fundamental level. That’s to say everything and nothing has changed!
Being action/activity based as we humans are such an answer doesn’t help in the practical realm. For me, right now my next step is to continue driving to Throssel with a car loaded with Rev. Saido’s vestments and other items. Food surplus to my current needs, oh and more that I can’t list now….
So the answer ends up a question ‘what is the next most important thing to do? While tempering that with stopping to reflect. And given the opportunity, to sit comfortably for awhile. We could term that as meditation. It is a not doing, deciding deliberately.
Onwards to the M6 Motorway.
This is for all those known and unknown who are living with difficult mental health issues. I met one such person this very day. Blessings….
Here is the recording of Rev. Saidō’s funeral on the 18th March, 2023. It hardly seems possible that Rev. Saidō is actually dead. Last time we talked on the telephone, perhaps a week before he died, I was trying to find a word or words to refer to the fact of his imminent demise. “You mean dead!” he said. Not mincing words, and I’m following his lead on that one.
This morning, as if I actually needed a reminder, I collected his cremated remains from the undertaker’s office. They are now placed on the altar here at Telford Buddhist Priory, awaiting a suitable recepticle, eventually to be interred in the grounds here (in the recently constructed stupa).
