Some time ago I posted this.
I’m glad to say that Mitra is enjoying happy times in her adopted home in Florida.
Suzy the other (senior) cat up for adoption crossed the continent in April and is now in Oregon, waiting for just the right home to retire to.
This is for Suzy.
As promised at the Sunday class here are references to articles which speak about spiritual merit.
Transfer of Merit
The Making and Sharing of Merit
Merit, A Study Guide
To know merit, one practices; there is only merit, ongoing flowing.
That’s the best I can say on the subject this evening.
Thanks to John for pointing out the second article listed.
(This first paragraph has been edited slightly to, hopefully, bring better orientation to the subject at hand.)
Be prepared to be shocked and informed and have light shine on the subject of physical/mental sensory perception and how messages can get wired incorrectly. Think phantom limb syndrome.
Brew a cup of tea and settle down for a long read.
Scientists once saw itching as a form of pain. They now believe it to be a different order of sensation. Its mysterious power may be a clue to a new theory about brains and bodies.
One womans harrowing story is documented in this article in the New Yorker. The excerpt below sets the stage for her journey, with an itch which went on and on and…
It was still shocking to M. how much a few wrong turns could change your life. She had graduated from Boston College with a degree in psychology, married at twenty-five, and had two children, a son and a daughter. She and her family settled in a town on Massachusetts’ southern shore. She worked for thirteen years in health care, becoming the director of a residence program for men who’d suffered severe head injuries. But she and her husband began fighting. There were betrayals. By the time she was thirty-two, her marriage had disintegrated. In the divorce, she lost possession of their home, and, amid her financial and psychological struggles, she saw that she was losing her children, too. Within a few years, she was drinking. She began dating someone, and they drank together. After a while, he brought some drugs home, and she tried them. The drugs got harder. Eventually, they were doing heroin, which turned out to be readily available from a street dealer a block away from her apartment.
The New Yorker, June 30, 2008, The Itch by Atul Gawande
Later in the article we find solutions to perception difficulties such as phantom limbs, through the use of mirrors.
One’s heart cannot but go out to ‘M’. Light a stick of incense.
This is my ‘Word Wednesday’ posting.
According to Buddhism there are five orders or processes (Niyamas, accent over the first ‘a’) which operate in the physical and mental realms and explain why things happen. One of the laws or processes is the law of karma, a much misunderstood teaching. As Narada Thera says rather poetically in A Manual of Buddhism:
As surely as water seeks its own level, so does Karmma, given opportunity, produce its inevitable result–not in the form of reward or punishment but as an innate sequence. This sequence of deed and effect is as natural and necessary as the way of the sun and the moon.
Other references to the Five Niyamas, or the Five Laws of the Universe, can be found here:
Zen is Eternal Life, Rev. Jiyu-Kennett
Chapter 2, Basic Original Doctrines Essential to Zen.
An Introduction to the Tradition of Serene Reflection Meditation
Sixth article in this booklet is titled, Five Laws of the Universe
A Manual of Buddhism, Narada Thera
Chapter 11, Karma. The five niyamas are listed and explained at the end of this chapter in answer to the question, Is Everything due to Kamma?
A Buddhist Approach to Patient Health Care, Kusala Bhikshu Urban Dharma website.
Within this article can be found an explanation of the five niyamas. Also in this article is information relevant to hospital chaplains, staff and others about Buddhist patients and their particular care and needs.
This evening we talked about the five laws (niyamas) during the class which follows the meditation period. The thing to keep in mind is, quoting directly from Kusala Bhikshu:
There is no ‘One Thing’ that determines anything in Buddhism it is always the interconnected and interdependent flux of many things.
As I mentioned to the group this evening, it’s great having to do classes because it makes me study stuff. For the most part I don’t have need to think about Buddhism during my day.
Animateur:- The word is French and referrers to someone capable of presenting abstruse and complicated philosophical ideas in clear, vivid and attractive form.
I first encountered this word on top of the moors above Throssel, Northumberland. My companion used it to describe his teacher’s exceptional ability to explain Buddhism with great clarity and vision. I’d agree completely.
Now having taken a look around the Internet I see that there are people employed as Animateurs. In the case below such a person can help bring music, the understanding and appreciation of it presumably, to the general public. Perhaps to those who would not normally go and listen to classical music.
The tradition of having an animateur as an integral part of an orchestra is, curiously, British. Many orchestras in the U.K. have animateurs on staff (some are orchestra musicians and some are composers); they are musicians who are committed to community work. That’s what an animateur is, but what does one do?
An Animateur’s Journey: A report from the field
Again, Animateurs are being employed to address community issues, such as health.
Animateurs are recruited from the local community and can receive fees and training for a fixed time period. In Doncaster Health Action Zone, people were recruited from the local community to work as community health animateurs. They became involved in included community audits and delivering training on community issues. They also undertook work placements in a range of community and health organisations.
Community Scotland.
This word brings with it much food for thought, that is in terms of developing wise ways of animating Buddhism, especially here in the West. Perhaps Buddhist blogs play their part.