Here is the offertory sung at the end of the Remembrance Day ceremony :
The wind is rattling my door tonight, great gusts of air thrash around the stone buildings. My mind is drawn to those less fortunate.
Here is the offertory sung at the end of the Remembrance Day ceremony :
The wind is rattling my door tonight, great gusts of air thrash around the stone buildings. My mind is drawn to those less fortunate.
Down Under, in Australia, there is an ER Nurse who I like to visit when I need a certain kinda lift. Here is (part of) what he has to say about what to do when a resuscitation goes bad.
Slow speed: Somewhere between rushing around like a headless chook and dropping into ‘frozen in the headlights’ inertia, is a zone of slow speed where tasks are performed with an easy fluidity. Once you have centered yourself and focused your breathing for a moment it is pretty easy to drop into this niche. And with some slow speed applied to the one thing, you will begin to accomplish a lot quickly.
When anything goes bad, or evenly mildly out of hand, most of what is listed in this article, ‘in the zone’ will come in handy. Remembering to do it is the hard part.
Remember, tomorrow is Remembrance Day.
For those who care, who are the carers of those who need caring for, nine bows of gratitude.
For the nurse who was punched to-day, by a patient suffering from dementia, Bows.
For the elderly man with terminal cancer who cared for his wife until the time now come, to be cared for. Valiant man!
Nine bows to all those who, alone or with others, face the task of helping another to get through another day, and another day and another and another…the unrelenting another day. I’ve been there and those days have been privileged days. Perhaps those days never end.
In many ways giving is easy receiving care, not so easy. I hope I have the good grace and fortitude to be cared for, should that time ever come.
The weekend came and went as did very many guests. One person described the gathering on Sunday as a huge block of gratitude. We had gathered together to celebrate the tenth anniversary memorial for Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett and these occasions are indeed an opportunity to express gratitude and thereby circulate spiritual merit. That’s to offer the power of the ‘good’, that flows from selflessly giving, which liberates beings including oneself.
Much activity this week in preparation for a lot of visitors coming to the monastery, some monastic brothers and sisters will be coming as well as a whole host of lay practitioners. People have started to arrive already.
Relatives and friends coming to visit. Memories of my parents and relatives coming here, of my aunt standing in the middle of the ceremony hall and announcing in a loud plumby voice, “I do like a BIG room”. Perhaps she was remembering the large houses she had lived in as a ‘gal’ and had aspired to return to for most of her life, but never did. That large room will be filled on Sunday to celebrate the tenth anniversary memorial for my Master, Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett.
I was always anxious around my parents visiting, even as early as school sports days at primary school. “PLEASE don’t come”. Now I hear children actually want there parents to come to such events! Here is a chap talking about the parental visit you hardly ever imagine will happen, but does.
Anyway, we are in full preparation mode and once again I find myself with days filled with activity. The kesa now made, onwards to formatting photograph for a notice board. I’ll blog again when time permits.