Moving seems complicated. Can I break it down into more manageable tasks?
Maybe a sort: stuff to sell, stuff to give away, stuff to store, stuff to take with me - I still need packing supplies...
Sprinkle in a few phone calls, following leads, as I still haven't found a place to go
Feeling that I should eat first, so I'm going to Golden Corral on South Lamar. Anyone want to meet me there, ~ 10:45 a.m.?
26 January 2013
25 January 2013
Feelings of fear and frustration...
I just want to run away, have a meltdown, check into ASH... But those don't improve my circumstances, so I need to find a different solution.
I feel uncertain about my housing, and I'd like help finding alternative housing by next Friday - renting a room from some one, moving to another sober house (or co-op?), an inexpensive efficiency apartment....
I just want to run away, have a meltdown, check into ASH... But those don't improve my circumstances, so I need to find a different solution.
I feel uncertain about my housing, and I'd like help finding alternative housing by next Friday - renting a room from some one, moving to another sober house (or co-op?), an inexpensive efficiency apartment....
24 January 2013
The Benefits of Silence
By
Thich Nhat Hanh
Q: Could tell us about the benefits of silence and how we could bring that home with us from this retreat?
A:Many of us have realized in the last few days that silence can be enjoyable. We realize that there are many things that we do not have to say, and that then we can reserve the time and energy to do other things that can help us to look more deeply into ourselves and things around us.
If you are pushed by your habit energy to say something, don't say it. Instead, take a notebook and write it down. A day or two later, read what you wrote, and you might find out that it would have been an awful thing to say. So slowly you become master of yourself, and you know what to say and what not to say.
I remember one time I proposed to a sister that she practice silence. She was an elder nun and she had a few negative seeds in her that prevented her from being happy. She was just a little bit too hard on the other sisters. I proposed to her that she was a very talented person, very skillful in many things, and she could make many people happy if only she knew how to be silent and to say only things that needed to be said.
I proposed to her that she use only three sentences for three months. She could repeat these three sentences as many times as she wanted(laughter) and I told her that if she practiced that for a week, she would feel happiness right away. The first sentence was, "Dear sister,is there anything I can do to help you?" (laughter) The second sentence was, "Did you like what I did to help you?" The third was, "Would you have any suggestion that I can do it better?" (laughter) If she could say that, she would make many people happy and the happiness would go back to herself very quickly.
By
Thich Nhat Hanh
Q: Could tell us about the benefits of silence and how we could bring that home with us from this retreat?
A:Many of us have realized in the last few days that silence can be enjoyable. We realize that there are many things that we do not have to say, and that then we can reserve the time and energy to do other things that can help us to look more deeply into ourselves and things around us.
If you are pushed by your habit energy to say something, don't say it. Instead, take a notebook and write it down. A day or two later, read what you wrote, and you might find out that it would have been an awful thing to say. So slowly you become master of yourself, and you know what to say and what not to say.
I remember one time I proposed to a sister that she practice silence. She was an elder nun and she had a few negative seeds in her that prevented her from being happy. She was just a little bit too hard on the other sisters. I proposed to her that she was a very talented person, very skillful in many things, and she could make many people happy if only she knew how to be silent and to say only things that needed to be said.
I proposed to her that she use only three sentences for three months. She could repeat these three sentences as many times as she wanted(laughter) and I told her that if she practiced that for a week, she would feel happiness right away. The first sentence was, "Dear sister,is there anything I can do to help you?" (laughter) The second sentence was, "Did you like what I did to help you?" The third was, "Would you have any suggestion that I can do it better?" (laughter) If she could say that, she would make many people happy and the happiness would go back to herself very quickly.
On Peace & Acceptance
“Peace is not merely a distant goal we seek but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.
The present moment will never have all the conditions that are most conducive to peace and happiness. There will never be a day when there’s absolutely no struggle, conflict, or confusion.
We can decide this makes it impossible to ever be fully peaceful, or we can consider that peace isn’t about eliminating all challenges but rather accepting that life involves them. When you think about it, this is actually a gift. Through struggle we learn, evolve, innovate, and create. Without it, we’d grow stagnant.
Today if you find yourself feeling uncomfortable with the events in your professional or personal life, remind yourself there is no alternative to external conflict; but there is the possibility of finding a peace that both transcends it and turns it into something useful.
What could you do today to leverage your circumstances for your benefit, and what tension do you need to release to do that?
“The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.”
“Peace is not merely a distant goal we seek but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.
The present moment will never have all the conditions that are most conducive to peace and happiness. There will never be a day when there’s absolutely no struggle, conflict, or confusion.
We can decide this makes it impossible to ever be fully peaceful, or we can consider that peace isn’t about eliminating all challenges but rather accepting that life involves them. When you think about it, this is actually a gift. Through struggle we learn, evolve, innovate, and create. Without it, we’d grow stagnant.
Today if you find yourself feeling uncomfortable with the events in your professional or personal life, remind yourself there is no alternative to external conflict; but there is the possibility of finding a peace that both transcends it and turns it into something useful.
What could you do today to leverage your circumstances for your benefit, and what tension do you need to release to do that?
“The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.”
Coming, here, gone:
Flowers in the Sky.
In the blink of one false eye,
In the blink of One True Eye,
Flowers in the empty sky;
Shimmering, scented ... gone,
Gone, gone, gone far beyond
Their seeds of arising.
But, staying, Here-Now,
A Great Marvel of Manifestation.
Bodhisvattas - for the bees.
Soil, sun, rain, sky ...
Four Elements embracing,
Intertwined in mind.
Unfathomable Matrix;
Scaffolds on scaffolds
Grounded in Otherness.
Below seeds, flowers, leaves,
stems, roots ...
Below wet cells embraced,
Below atoms dancing on Energy ...
Deeper and deeper below into
What? A Plenitude, sacredness.
Emptiness in full bloom.
Above seeds, flowers, leaves,
stems, roots ...
Above water, soil, air, sunlight ...
Above sensing, feeling, working, thinking ...
Higher and higher out towards
What? "Vast emptiness, nothing holy."
Flowers in the sky.
— Master Dōgen Zenji —
__/|\__ Buddha Bless You __/|\__
Flowers in the Sky.
In the blink of one false eye,
In the blink of One True Eye,
Flowers in the empty sky;
Shimmering, scented ... gone,
Gone, gone, gone far beyond
Their seeds of arising.
But, staying, Here-Now,
A Great Marvel of Manifestation.
Bodhisvattas - for the bees.
Soil, sun, rain, sky ...
Four Elements embracing,
Intertwined in mind.
Unfathomable Matrix;
Scaffolds on scaffolds
Grounded in Otherness.
Below seeds, flowers, leaves,
stems, roots ...
Below wet cells embraced,
Below atoms dancing on Energy ...
Deeper and deeper below into
What? A Plenitude, sacredness.
Emptiness in full bloom.
Above seeds, flowers, leaves,
stems, roots ...
Above water, soil, air, sunlight ...
Above sensing, feeling, working, thinking ...
Higher and higher out towards
What? "Vast emptiness, nothing holy."
Flowers in the sky.
— Master Dōgen Zenji —
__/|\__ Buddha Bless You __/|\__
Will you know me...
...by the company I keep?
...by the happenings I seek?
...by the deep secrets I keep?
...by the truths and lies I speak?
...by the mixed rewards I reap?
All these are but pointers to my paws, signs of the tracks I leave, and the widening ripples I weave, in the hazy realm between me and the world.
...by the company I keep?
...by the happenings I seek?
...by the deep secrets I keep?
...by the truths and lies I speak?
...by the mixed rewards I reap?
All these are but pointers to my paws, signs of the tracks I leave, and the widening ripples I weave, in the hazy realm between me and the world.
An image comes to mind:
...sharing photos from my past...
Although the pictures might have special significance to me, they may not mean much to you.
So, a couple of pictures may be tolerable, but a couple of photo albums...? ...or several hours of home videos...?
At what point will you want to say, "ENOUGH!! You're wasting my time with all this nostalgia..!"
...sharing photos from my past...
Although the pictures might have special significance to me, they may not mean much to you.
So, a couple of pictures may be tolerable, but a couple of photo albums...? ...or several hours of home videos...?
At what point will you want to say, "ENOUGH!! You're wasting my time with all this nostalgia..!"
With over-sharing on Facebook, the fear is that I become more of a nuisance, by sharing and liking 10+ posts per day. I certainly can see that I get annoyed when some of my friends over-share...
Yet, I'd like to be a channel, or reporter - passing along the posts that resonate with me.
Unfortunately, (?) I find a lot of posts here interesting, whether they be jokes, or quotes, or scientific research, or...
So, perhaps the challenge is finding a balance between shadow-lurking and over-sharing. There's probably a heuristic in that balance - a set of rules like:
1) use likes sparingly, when I think a friend's post is really good news
2) reserve comments for friends, and only when they "arise spontaneously", I.e. no comments made just to follow future comments..?
3) reserve sharing for fan and group pages, as I do not know if my friends want their status updates and personal pictures broadcast to people they don't know
4) be more aware of apps "posting on my behalf"..?
You may come to know me better by "the company I keep". On the one hand, this could be the people I quote or paraphrase... Or it could be the quoted ideas themselves, with no connection to the speakers being princes or paupers.
Yet, I'd like to be a channel, or reporter - passing along the posts that resonate with me.
Unfortunately, (?) I find a lot of posts here interesting, whether they be jokes, or quotes, or scientific research, or...
So, perhaps the challenge is finding a balance between shadow-lurking and over-sharing. There's probably a heuristic in that balance - a set of rules like:
1) use likes sparingly, when I think a friend's post is really good news
2) reserve comments for friends, and only when they "arise spontaneously", I.e. no comments made just to follow future comments..?
3) reserve sharing for fan and group pages, as I do not know if my friends want their status updates and personal pictures broadcast to people they don't know
4) be more aware of apps "posting on my behalf"..?
You may come to know me better by "the company I keep". On the one hand, this could be the people I quote or paraphrase... Or it could be the quoted ideas themselves, with no connection to the speakers being princes or paupers.
I can walk one of several paths, stemming from my New Year's resolution:
1) stronger silence
2) stay with the current course
3) relax the conditions
Since I'm posting this, and liking stuff over the last month, and such... I think I've been exercising 3)
Maybe I need to better define the conditions under which I'd like to restrain pen and tongue... More on that to follow in my next update
1) stronger silence
2) stay with the current course
3) relax the conditions
Since I'm posting this, and liking stuff over the last month, and such... I think I've been exercising 3)
Maybe I need to better define the conditions under which I'd like to restrain pen and tongue... More on that to follow in my next update
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