This poster says, “I’m so tired of people needing a reason for doing everything in their lives. Do it because you want to. Because it’s fun. Because it makes you happy.
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Great Spirit says that all actions should be done with grace and ease. Especially if it is fun! Life is to be in balance. If we are too serious all the time, then we skew to anxiety. We balance seriousness by having moments of unstructured fun.
Do something fun today!
Blessings,
Judy
As I study Buddhism in its several faces, I am constantly in wonder at how simple the concepts are and how difficult it is to embrace the concept and put it to full practice in one’s life.
This simple story will explain what I mean. It is called “Mind At Ease”, and talks about how we can put our heart at ease. Does this seem contrary to the title? Well, Buddhism is a series of koans. A koan is a paradoxical anecdote or a riddle that has no solution; used in Zen Buddhism to show the inadequacy of logical reasoning. This definition comes from wordnetweb.princeton.edu. So, here is the story!
Sometimes, trying to understand a koan is like trying to catch the Sun! Picture from Microsoft Clip Art
Mind At Ease
It was a dark, snowy and windy night. Hui Ko, the Second Patriarch of Zen Sect in China, went to see Master Bodhidharma.
Hui Ko asked, "Could you please teach me the supreme Buddhist Dharma?"
The Master said, "You can't learn the Dharma from others."
Hui Ko said, "I have trying to search for Dharma myself, but in vain. My heart is unsettled. My mind is ill-at-ease. Master, please pacify my heart for me."
The Master replied, "Give me your heart and I'll try to calm it down for you."
After pondering for a long time, Hui Ko said, "I have been searching for my heart, but I cannot find it."
Bodhidharma said instantly, "Now, I have comforted your heart already."
Hui Ko was enlightened all of a sudden. It is impossible to show the heart as its existence is only an illusion. The whole process of the creation and cessation of the heart, or the mind, is also an illusion.
When we are void of the illusion, the 'heart' is not there at all. Without any attachment, the pure Buddha's nature is revealed. The mind is finally at ease.
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What do you learn from this story? Is is something that you can share with all of us?
Many blessings,
Judy
Turtle has been a “Keeper of the Earth” for many millions of years. She has evolved and adapted to change as required. She made the transition from water to land, and now, most of her kind are able to move between the two worlds of water and earth – something that humans cannot do without an adequate air supply.
Many of our human sayings are from the life that turtle leads. Some are:
What we humans see when we look at a turtle is a being that is so wise, completely comfortable with its life, and a being that is a survivor. We would all like to be as resilient as a Turtle.
Blessings,
Judy
I love the fall, and the feeling of peacefulness that it brings, as Mother Nature blankets up her charges and puts them to sleep. I love walking through the dried grass with my dog and feeling the crispness of the grass and the air against my skin.
Autumn in our yard… picture by Judy Hirst
Just as Mother Nature cleans up the plants and the trees, and even the water and earth, we, too, need to clean up before the long winter rest. We need to let go of old hurts, angers, resentments, and victimizations that we have hugged to our souls. These wounds, for they are wounds, cripple us because we cannot move forward with our lives in ease. The wounds may also cause us to become ill. The word “ill” by the way, is a word that means “attributing evil or an objectionable quality”, or, “causing suffering or distress”, or “not normal or sound <ill health>”. One can see from Merriam-Webster’s definition that our hurts fit our ills.
I found a lovely prayer to offer up to the Goddess, who, one must remember is an aspect of Great Spirit. It comes from Zsuzsanna Budapest, from her book, “The Grandmother of Time”. She suggests writing out all the names of those people that you have issues with, and that you burn this list, as you say this prayer.
Dearest Goddess,
I have come a long way this year, carrying my burdens. I would like to take them off my shoulders and give them back to you to recycle, to bury, to compost. Here, I offer you my resentments against friends, family, and (fill in you own needs here), and ask you to absorb them into your black universe. Relieve me of them and allow me to walk more lightly.
Now – Burn this list either in candle flames or in your smudging bowl.
I feel all light, happy and cleansed now. Dearest Goddess, you are my true strength and guide. I thank you for being accessible and answering your children’s call. I honour you and thank you.
Now – take the ashes and throw them into living water to let them wash away. As you cast them off, don’t think about this anymore.
This is an amazing process! If you are not comfortable using the term “Goddess” even though she is an aspect of Creator, then use the term “God”, or what ever you are comfortable with. Each term is simply the aspect of Creator that resonates for us!
May all your prayers be heartfelt!
Many Blessings,
Judy
"Canada Goose Gander In A Tree"
The first time that I saw a Canada Goose in a tree, my reaction was, "What the ..?" And then I saw a goose several more times in this tree and in various trees, and I began to be curious. I have been seeing geese in trees for the last five years. First, my curiosity was around why he was behaving this way, and second, I wondered why I was continually seeing this behaviour. I finally snapped this picture.
After I took this picture, I realized a certain irony in the situation. There are wonderful stories about goslings (baby geese) being imprinted with the first thing that they see upon hatching. The imprint leads the gosling to regard that object/animal/person as their mother and supreme leader until the gosling is ready to fly on its own. Now, here I was, imprinting the goose forever in my memory by actually taking a picture of it. There had to be something going on at a Spirit level.
I remember reading in a Ted Andrew's book that goose is about the call of the quest and travel to places of legend. Perhaps goose was reminding me that my life is a quest and that I better get moving on it. Or, perhaps it is to be a reminder that magic is possible, as in legends - that the impossible such as a goose in a tree, does happen. Since the goose is sitting up high, and this particular group of trees is in the middle of a grassy field, it seems that the goose is actually a "guardian or look out" for the small group of geese that were below the tree and along the stream. There are several coyotes in the area that do use the long grass for ground cover as the coyote quests for food.
The idea of "look out" sent me on a new wave of thought. Perhaps this is a warning to be on the look-out for those things which may creep up on you. Or, it may be a reminder to be protective and to guard your mate and your family and friends. Goose is often associated with writing and telling the story because our ancestors used goose quill pens as writing tools. So, the idea of being on the look-out for a story or for workshop material also seems like part of the message.
The message that resonated with me, however, was "responsibility". This goose shows that one must accept responsibility in the group to help the group's survival. Further, goose accepts that there is a role each of the group must perform, and in doing that role, one doesn't get to indulge in self serving actions (eating, drinking, resting, playing, or simply refusing to get involved but wanting others to do the work). This realization caused me to do some soul searching. Was I stepping up to the plate? Was I doing all that I could do to assist my group? Was I self indulgent?
The answer, I realized, is in the perspective. When you are higher up, and more removed from the situation, such as goose is, up in the tree, one sees the bigger picture. One sees how the field merges into the trees and into the bank of the stream and even the stream itself. One sees the symmetry and balance of being able to forage without worry while another guards. If however, you are one of the geese on the ground, all you see is the detail around you. Part of the balance then, comes from each goose taking a turn at sitting in the tree as the look-out while the others, including the previous look-out, take time to eat and rest.
In each of our lives, there are those people who are always demanding that we do more - that if we do not do more, we are "not responsible" or "not loving" or "not being part of the group". As goose shows, one needs to be on the "look-out" for those people in your life that will manipulate you, and will put your life out of balance. The goose sends the message, then, of being discerning in where one goes and in the people or groups that one associates with, to guard against being out of balance. That is a soul felt message from Great Spirit!
May you be peaceful and at ease, and may you be balanced.
Many Blessings,
Judy
I saw this poster, and thought,
“That is the problem we have today, everyone would rather fight than try to work things out. I think that it is a product of impatience, and ego, and training. We have learned through history that the one with the bigger stick seems to win. So, that is what we focus on – winning. Winning is really a form of losing when the solution only solves the problem for one person or group. If you win, you have failed, as a leader, because not everyone is happy. While I agree that there are some folks that you will probably never satisfy, the majority are happy and look for solutions to what keeps them from doing their job, or from living their life in peace and with ease.”
Perhaps I am wrong in my thoughts. Perhaps this poster has it right. Perhaps we should defend ourselves, and do what is in our power to prevail over others with our own thoughts and values.
What are your thoughts?
Blessings
Judy
