Derwentwater by Keswick in the Lake District, with ducks.
In other words, if you stand up you are likely to fall in the water!
Each year our chemistry teacher lead a party of pupils from our school in Sussex on a walking tour in the Lake District. We traveled by train, the last part, from Kendel to Windermere being by steam. The South Downs were the highest I’d ever been above sea level, until I came to The Lakes, when I was thirteen.
My first sight of the high fells, as we traveled by coach from Windermere to our Youth Hostel in Grasmere, remain with me now. It was love at first sight. Nothing in this world has ever matched the lakeland fells. I remain forever loyal.
Interestingly I cannot remember ever going out in one of the rowing boats pictured here. I understand they cost, at one time, five shillings for a day!
Yesterday evening I was all set to write about focusing on the important thing. That is how to avoid getting caught up in the comings and goings of the coming and going of daily life. When, I discovered my newly washed laundry looking like it had taken a tour in the septic system. Then, having tinkered with my computer earlier in the day, discovered I was not able to log in to this Blog. Suddenly the comings and goings were right on my doorstep, and not going away!
Anyway, letting it be seems to work, as well as sleeping on it. After thoughts before bed about making an effort to back up ‘Mountains’, an email from Iain in Japan in the morning confirmed he’d just done that. Unasked.
Now, after a day out in the English Lake District I’ve managed to write this, although not on my computer. After a day taking photographs I’m quite proud of, I have mislaid my camera. I’ll sleep on that…
Our cook here at Throssel pointed me to a blog written by the cook at Harnham Monastery AKA as Aruna Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery. He is a layman and he updates every Friday. There are wonderful photographs and the blog opens an intimate window on the practical life of the monastery. Every week is listed what foods are needed as well, sometimes, what they have enough of. Obviously this is more of an ‘in-house’ blog however I think I’ll be nipping over to Harnham on a Friday. At the moment the cook appears to be on holiday. Ours is taking a break too.Here below is news from August 10th. Did we have sunshine then? We are not that distant from one another although I often think we have our very own weather system in this valley.
The retreat that was impending last week is today nearing its close. Outside, we’re into our fifth day of sunshine, contrary to my pessimistic predictions; and also those of our Italian friend who dug a protective moat for his tent in the manicured lawn of the walled garden: When our resident greenkeeper finds out, ‘il signor’ could be the first casualty of the week.
That is, if you don’t count the spectacular demise of the best porcelain cups (which shattered yesterday’s silence and for which I offer further apologies to Meme and Drew); or the following list of minor battle wounds thus far accrued:
One sprained shoulder (yoga teacher)
One twisted ankle (yoga student?)
One bee sting to the nose
One case of constipation (set free with prunes)
One case of earache (unrelated to the comfort of the new Dhamma seat)
Numerous minor kitchen burns.
This all sounds so familiar.
And should you be interested there is a download page on the monastery site. One download program gives you a random verse from the Dhammapada each time you boot up your computer. For daily inspiration.
We met for our day retreat in the Friends Meeting House building which is very close to Manchester Town Hall. As each hour arrived the booming out of the Town Hall clock left us in no doubt to the passing of time. So loud, so very loud that at first we all thought something bad was happening out there in the streets of good old Manchester. Window rattling chimes.
Then today news of a tornado, or many mini tornadoes in England. One of our monks reported her experience of being in a house when one passed by. One moment calm the next car alarms going off, glass breaking, curtains sucked out through an open window. Moments later a return to calm and the wreckage strewn on the street. The house will need to be re roofed. Window rattling weather, and then some!
Richard said… I used to walk to Battersea Park twenty years ago from Earls Court in the evenings and hop over the fence to walk to see the stupa by the river. One winters evening there was a gale blowing. As I climbed on the monument, there was no wind but the wind could be heard howling with the trees creaking and rustling away. I walked round looking at the four events in the Buddhas life in this zone of tranquility and stillness. Then I walked off the Stupa back into the gale…
Above is a comment left on the posting Wind and Rain. Copied here because of the connection with this posting, and the connection to practice. That’s the fast changing ‘weather’ of practice, which one can become so very easily shaken by. Or rattled!
Take care out there.
Practice Within The Order of Buddhist Contemplatives
Derwentwater by Keswick in the Lake District, with ducks.
In other words, if you stand up you are likely to fall in the water!
