This morning we went to Oasis and it was a very nice gathering with four people from Oasis and four from Eleusis and, between us, French, British, Russian, Dutch and Hawaiian. As usual we had a service and then sat outside drinking coffee, chatting and sharing news. In the service I gave a talk about Shantideva and afterwards answered questions. There is some interest in the fact that in Pureland we start from the deluded position of the ordinary person rather than from the Dharma ideal and place more emphasis upon the lotus having its root in the mud than upon the glorious flower.
Back at Eleusis I am getting on with my writing and, also as usual, there are a diversity of practical tasks unfolding. All of this teaches one a kind of patience. Each task goes on small step by small step. It is tempting to visualise what it will all look like at some mythical time in the future when it is all 'done', but this is unreal. In reality, after each little step there is some reflection and this often results in some small or larger change of course. Consequently, things evolve rather than being the imposition of a plan and by the time some large stage has been completed it is often very different from the picture one had in mind when one started the project.
All of this, of course, has something to do with accepting one's state of ignorance. I do not know yet how the barn will look when it is 'converted' nor how the garden will be in two year's time. For sure, without some vision one would not start, but there has to be room for the vision to transmute, for the muse to intervene, for practical consequences to be weighed as they become apparent and opportunities exploited as they show themselves. This is neither 'living in the moment' nor 'where there's a wil there's a way'. It is more about receptivity coupled with a willingness to play one's part.
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Yesterday I spent several hours trying to achieve something and in the end decided that it is not going to work that way - back to the drawing board :-)
I will spend hours, days even trying to make things look or work according to my plan.
I'm accused of being dogmatic, can't think why.
Just regard it as a five hundred year project. :-)