Mink and Water

 

Mink, a spirit animal, says that water is very important to all of us.  Creator has made us all – all animals – mostly water to remind us that we are all fluid – that is our spirit, our energy, is able to move with the flow.  There is no reason not to move fluidly, whether we dance, sing, run or walk.  We are meant to flow on the easiest path. 

Mink observes that especially in winter, humans do not flow.  Mink thinks this is because that humans do not move close enough to water.  Instead, they sit in buildings and other dry places.  Even drinking lots of water does not ease the burden of loss of fluidity.

Minks like to live near water and are seldom found far from riverbanks, lakes and marshes. Even when roaming, they tend to follow streams and ditches. Sometimes they leave the water altogether for a few hundred metres.  This is the example that humans should follow.

Blessings,

Judy

When We Visit Nature

 

If we go out into the natural world and just talk about the same things we talk about all the time, we may as well have stayed at home. When we visit nature we should put down everyday small talk, subjective mental activity, judging and discrimination, and just open up and observe nature. 

Starting from the time of the Buddha, it was almost always the custom for those who had left home life to spend some time practicing in the mountains. Generally the hut they lived in was made so that it could be put up and dismantled very quickly, so that the person could move on to another place. The purpose was to live a life that would not foster a group mentality, but rather cultivate a holistic attitude where one would feel at one with all lives and the universe.  — Master Sheng Yen, "As Spacious as Nature"

Blessings,

Judy

Humming Bird’s Sweetness

Sometimes, you just get surprised by what happens in a meditation.  My surprise was this beautiful little hummingbird that buzzed into my sacred space inside my sacred space.  Only those energies that are for the greatest and highest good are allowed to move through this space. 

This little lady came in to share some thoughts with me.  One of the guardians of my north direction is the hummingbird.  She said that I was not invoking all of the sweetness that it could bring to my life.  

Little Lady Hummingbird said that the hummingbird’s gift was that it can transform sweetness into courage, and courage to sweetness; that sometimes people need to understand that sweetness enhances courage and strength because with sweetness, one feels sorrow.  And, she flew off.

I have been mulling over her words.  I think that I understand that sweetness is like compassion.  If you don’t have compassion, then your love is self serving.  I think she might be saying that courage without sweetness can also be self serving.

What do you think?

Blessings,

Judy