Suffering
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
The morning air is springtime chilly. I am sitting next to my open zendo window and I just noticed my candle is low on fuel. The air is still enough that the incense from my alter is hanging in the air. I use cedar incense and enjoy it as a reminder of the mountain Refuge.
Last night we attended the second Seder at the synagogue. The place was packed. The Seder meal was enjoyable. I enjoy matzo and Horoset with some horseradish to add spice. I even enjoy the bitter herbs in salt water. We have so much to be thankful for today. Electricity, running water, interior bathrooms, medical services, good food, good friends, and our practice. We should live in this practice, rather than in the pomp surrounding it.
I admit that toward the end of the evening I was quite cranky and unstable. My brain and body do not work wquite as well at night and I've taken to needing a cane. Does this mean anything? Not unless I add meaning to it. My decline is quite natural and a natural result of early trauma to my brain. OK. So it is. The question is how to place myself in its presence. Ora-gel? A cane is coping. Its a prop to enable me to be steady and not fall. Dealing with this is to take my medications on time, train hard, rest, and eat well.
There is a big difference between coping and dealing, you see. If we are not in denial, we must address life as it is. Coping simply gets us through the moment, but not in the moment. It removes, temporarily, the pain. Dealing, on the other hand, takes us to the source and demands that we work through the pain.
Our society has us using bromides at every turn. Excedrin headaches have numbers. Alcohol, sex, food, ease, convenience, even religion: these are typical bromides. They get us through the moment untouched. So we are a world of sleep walkers. Got a problem? Take this pill, sip this wine, cozy up to this person, pray this way, click this, click that...everything will be just fine.
I don't think so.
In the end we decay. It is in our nature and we should not fear it. Decay, after all, is just what we call something, but it is not the thing as it is. The thing as it is is the moment, this particular point in time, a construct we create with our marvelous imaginations. As a result of this construct we fear. What if? What if?
Stop. It is our practice to be here now. Here is all we have and here is what we make of it. Last night, toward the end of the evening, I made my moments unhappy and shared this unhappiness with my wife in such a way as to cause her to suffer. This is not good behavior, nor it is good practice. We talked. My fears and frustrations were on the table. Her fears were there with mine. This is a better way.
Be well
Good Morning All,
The morning air is springtime chilly. I am sitting next to my open zendo window and I just noticed my candle is low on fuel. The air is still enough that the incense from my alter is hanging in the air. I use cedar incense and enjoy it as a reminder of the mountain Refuge.
Last night we attended the second Seder at the synagogue. The place was packed. The Seder meal was enjoyable. I enjoy matzo and Horoset with some horseradish to add spice. I even enjoy the bitter herbs in salt water. We have so much to be thankful for today. Electricity, running water, interior bathrooms, medical services, good food, good friends, and our practice. We should live in this practice, rather than in the pomp surrounding it.
I admit that toward the end of the evening I was quite cranky and unstable. My brain and body do not work wquite as well at night and I've taken to needing a cane. Does this mean anything? Not unless I add meaning to it. My decline is quite natural and a natural result of early trauma to my brain. OK. So it is. The question is how to place myself in its presence. Ora-gel? A cane is coping. Its a prop to enable me to be steady and not fall. Dealing with this is to take my medications on time, train hard, rest, and eat well.
There is a big difference between coping and dealing, you see. If we are not in denial, we must address life as it is. Coping simply gets us through the moment, but not in the moment. It removes, temporarily, the pain. Dealing, on the other hand, takes us to the source and demands that we work through the pain.
Our society has us using bromides at every turn. Excedrin headaches have numbers. Alcohol, sex, food, ease, convenience, even religion: these are typical bromides. They get us through the moment untouched. So we are a world of sleep walkers. Got a problem? Take this pill, sip this wine, cozy up to this person, pray this way, click this, click that...everything will be just fine.
I don't think so.
In the end we decay. It is in our nature and we should not fear it. Decay, after all, is just what we call something, but it is not the thing as it is. The thing as it is is the moment, this particular point in time, a construct we create with our marvelous imaginations. As a result of this construct we fear. What if? What if?
Stop. It is our practice to be here now. Here is all we have and here is what we make of it. Last night, toward the end of the evening, I made my moments unhappy and shared this unhappiness with my wife in such a way as to cause her to suffer. This is not good behavior, nor it is good practice. We talked. My fears and frustrations were on the table. Her fears were there with mine. This is a better way.
Be well