FRIDAY 4th Mar ~

New Persona for Lai
Annette called to take me to the garage in the village to collect the car. The car has the registration LAI092 - very old - so we call her “Lai”. The garage has repaired her. However, the new parts are a different colour from the old, so Lai is now two tone, half midnight blue and half maroon red. It looks rather fetching in a strange kind of way - a combination of the Buddhist colours for wisdom and compassion. Even with these second hand parts the repair was still a pile of money. There is an outside chance that the insurance company might reimburse it, but this hinges on the Belgian insurance company persuading the French insurance company that it was the French driver’s fault and I think there is not a high likelihood of success in this regard, but we shall see. It felt very strange being behind the wheel of a car again, even for the two kilometres from the village.

The Koan of No-Sitting
As a Buddhist priest I have some dilemma - a koan - through my current health situation. Almost everything that happens in the Buddha Hall is bad for me. Standing still or slow walking are both bad for me. Sitting is even worse. Currently I am reading and writing about Dogen Zenji and the corner stone of his approach is long periods of silent sitting. He describes it as "being at ease in the place of enlightenment", but in my case it is dangerous and not a place of ease at all. This means that I am reluctant to participate. My formal practice at the moment is to go to the hall when nobody else is there, sweep out the accumulating dust (our hall is open to the elements so there is always dust, straw etc. blowing in) and then do some prostrations, which are the only element in our normal formal practice that is at all good for my blood circulation. This circumstance is quite a challenge. It seems like a deep irony that my spiritual practice has nearly killed me. Somehow this brings samsara and nirvana together in a truly penetrating manner. The irony of the gods!

Dream of a Troublesome Leg
All this was somehow brought together in a dream I had in which I came into the hall amidst a throng of people and, in a dilemma about how to sit, chose an old camping chair. However, as the event proceeded it became apparent that the chair was broken in a particular way. The trouble was all in one leg and this had the effect that one was being slowly turned around: at the beginning of the event pointing in one direction but as time went on finding oneself facing different walls in turn. In my own case too, the trouble all starts in one leg and the effects are turning my life around, as well as quite literally making it difficult to sit in the hall.

Wetter than Wet
Today has been one of the wettest days - which is saying something, as we have had quite a bit of rain recently. the yard between our buildings is sodden and has a fair amount of standing water.

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Replies

  • Lovely - thank you Jeff. Perhaps we should have a corner on the site for sharing dreams. Lots of nice ideas here - creative associations. You are right of course that my predicament opens doors as well as closing some and I am certainly enjoying being able to put out teachings on a more regular basis. Namo Amida Bu.

  • That must be a very frustrating situation David.

    Funnily enough I have been thinking about posting here to ask about how dreams fit into our spiritual journeys. Today I was reading about Shinran and how dreams had a significant place in his life.

    Your dream brings a number of associations to my mind. Never a good idea to interpret someone else's dream I know. So forgive me for my interpretive impositions.

    In the dream you are turning in directions you wouldnt otherwise have faced. Certainly you are now sending out spiritual teachings to the four corners of the world every day which would otherwise not have taken place.( Four turnings of the Wheel of Dharma also comes to mind and making offerings to the Buddhas and Deities of the different directions)

    You have also been writing about teachers and subjects you may not otherwise have looked at (faced) at this time...not just focusing on one direction.

    You are in the dream literally at a 'turning point.' Though turning round can be somewhat disorientating too. Not knowing which way to turn? 

    Camping chairs are temporary and a bit precarious ...... all things change.Echoes of a kind of holiday, break from the usual course of work and life.Camping takes place outdoors, connecting to the land and nature. Holidays don't  last forever and the old routine is restablished.

    "Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free

    Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

    And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

    'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

    When true simplicity is gained,

    To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,

    To turn, turn will be our delight,

    Till by turning, turning we come 'round right."

    Best wishes for a speedy re-turn to health.

    Namo Amida Bu

    Jeff

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