All posts by Mugo

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The Mountain Remains

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Sun and mist come and go –
And always the Mountain remains.
H.Y. 1.1.2000

When the above was written in my book of scriptures I could not have been more miserable. At the time I knew a lot about mist and very little about sun. It was one of those times of wall to wall pain, on all levels. The Mountain remained, in the background. For one thing I’d broken my leg and not known I’d done it. My leg hurt, I hurt. A few days into the new year I was able to get to a hospital for x-rays. Quickly my leg was encased in a plaster cast and I was on crutches, for six weeks.

It was only a little slip on a frozen bank – my ankle turned – I heard a slight click. Yep! the doctor said happily. People can fall off a roof or out of a tree and not break anything. It’s the little slips and trips that, more often than not, result in major fractures. Isn’t that just the way of things. You make a mistake and you think you are in big trouble and you are not. You let slip an ill timed word or three and you are dead in the water.

At the time I viewed the above text through a haze of unhappiness. I didn’t appreciate it, as now. Seven years latter, seeing this text, remembering the turn of the millennium and how things were at the time, I started to silently repeat a well worn mantra. Uh! That was the very worst New Year of my entire life. But I stopped mid sentence, changed my mind and decided not to continue.

It is possible to change one’s mind –

And, no matter what, always the Mountain remains.
Now it is here, Happy New Year!
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The Power of the Universe

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Lakota Instructions for Living

Friend do it this way – that is,
whatever you do in life,
do the very best you can
with both your heart and mind.

And if you do it that way,
the Power Of The Universe
will come to your assistance,
if your heart and mind are in Unity.

When one sits in the Hoop Of The People,
one must be responsible because
All of Creation is related.
And the hurt of one is the hurt of all.
And the honor of one is the honor of all.
And whatever we do affects everything in the universe.

If you do it that way – that is,
if you truly join your heart and mind
as One – whatever you ask for,
that’s the Way It’s Going To Be.
Passed down from White Buffalo Calf Woman
Copied from here with gratitude.
Let’s travel with this wisdom into the new year to come. May our practice sustain us, may we rest in that which is Unborn and Undying, Eternal.
Daily Life, Teachings

Training Merit

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I’ve learnt my lesson; I’ll not do it again. Just how many times have I said that? How many times have you said that? Last night, late, I struggled to type a posting. It was to be the absolutely last one on death, for awhile anyway. I pressed the publish button and what I had written left the screen, for ever. Sometimes Blogger ‘goes down for repair’, last night was such a time. From now on, without fail I’ll make a copy of postings before publishing.

Sometimes when something bad happens the response of frustration/anger is skipped over to a calm acceptance, effortlessly. I believe this to be training merit coming into its own. That’s what happened last night, I got whisked past habit. It happens. More often than not though, the practice of deliberately refraining from fanning the flames of frustration is what’s needed. In this way practice grows training merit, which helps both oneself and others. So, at the moment of death, which must be a huge shock to the system, and having practiced refraining, you and I will be well equipped to face the next step confidently. Perhaps training merit will kick in too, who knows.

We are preparing for the New Years Eve Meditation Vigil and ceremony which will happen tomorrow night and for the festive meal the following day. How I love to cook in quantity.

Films/Books, Teachings

More to Dying than Death

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I came across the teachings of Lama Shenpen Hookham and spent a good part of yesterday reading what she had to say. She has recently published a book called There’s More to Dying than Death, a Buddhist Perspective. I find her writing very accessible and truly wise. There is a chapter on Bereavement which I could not equal, as well as practical and spiritual instructions for people close to death and for the people around them.
Films/Books, Information, Teachings

Planning a Buddhist Funeral

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Following a request to talk about Buddhist Funerals I took a look around and found this article partly written by Rev. Saido Kennaway of Telford Buddhist Priory. He is a senior priest of our Order. It’s a gem in terms of resources and ideas for planning a funeral.
That’s it for to-day.