A kind care package came for me from somebody recently returned from a tour in Japan. One of the items was this chocolate biscuit. English translation reads, special chocolate with noble sweetness.

Translations can make you smile. Years ago we had some traveling altar boxes sent to us at Shasta from Japan. They were free sample items and included incense. The translation on the packet went something like, You are/will be like the peppermint wind!

And even when we are all speaking the same language what is said can be enhanced, embellished, changed and otherwise translated into interesting new forms. But not malicious. For the most part, we hear, we enhance then mercifully we forget.

Sometimes of course one can take what is said, or written, personally. It helps to remember that most likely the intention was not to hurt the reader or listener. Perhaps good at such times to remember noble sweetness even when the taste is bitter.

Many thanks for the package from Canada where they are having a huge amount of snow. In Edmonton anyway.

A woman with a pram, stuck in snow, in Denmark, with a story to tell, and a message about beginners mind.

First/beginners mind
is the widest
and most completely
fathomless.
Even if Buddhas
explain it fully
such explanation
will never be enough.

A verse from the ordination ceremony.

Here are a couple of photographs. The first one from Angie, faithful reader in Yorkshire. The second from my walking companion at Throssel, also faithful as far as I am aware. I’m soon to be there in Northumberland walkin’, talkin’ and eatin’ and generally joining in the life of the community for a week. I’m looking forward to that.

on the moors, my walking companion stands tall.

in Yorkshire, islands of snow with skirts of ice.
We have the saying, and who knows where I am quoting from, which goes something like: When it is hot be completely hot, when it is cold be completely cold. And there are lots of opportunities to be cold in Britain this evening. And all next week probably. What is being pointed to in this quote is to accept what is, what conditions actually are. There is nothing like extremes of temperature to force one to accept conditions. But that is not the end of it, of course.

Last week we were being warned of a lot more snow to come. It didn’t come. At least not where I am staying in the Upper Eden Valley. I went into snow denial, snow? what snow! People on the street were saying, Snow? What snow. They have it wrong. Again. Gradually as the days went by I realized I wasn’t preparing as one should for winter road travel. So I have now packed for extreme conditions. I’ll be driving away towards Throssel tomorrow morning with the full kit aboard. Including a set of Autosocks. Good on snow, good on ice.

And there we have it: All acceptance is the key to the gateless gate. However if we don’t pick up the key and open the gateless gate, we are likely to be left spinning our wheels. In other words acceptance of conditions comes together with taking action.

Thanks for the photographs. This wasn’t quite what I had in mind for this evenings post however this is what came out of my fingers.