Random Things on Index Cards

So, another week of the Index-Card-a-Day Challenge has passed. There’s been no real theme to our cards this week; they are quite a random collection. I have experimented with sharpies:

Taken stock of things:

And made marks with pencils of different weights:

Gman has been inspired by some Streets lyrics (not the cheeriest )

And enjoyed some aquatic punning:

Waif has been spreading some Mario Kart loving:

and drawing maps:

But, for me, the topsy-turvy week we’ve had is kind of summed up in Waif’s “Random Things” card. Quite an insight into what catches the attention of a 7 year old mind!!

Crystal, eye, football, triangle, mountain, wing, leg, blood.

It doesn’t get more random than that

Faking It

This is kind of a continuation on the theme of fakeness…

I recently came across Bodhipaksa’s blog “bodhi tree swaying” and in particular his series on fake Buddha quotes.    With the preponderance of quotation sites online, it is easy enough to grab a “Buddha” quote to fit what you want to say…but are they genuine quotes of the Buddha?  One I have used in particular in the past is “If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change“.   I love this quote; I find it inspiring and I believe that others do too.  But after reading a few of Bodhipaksa’s posts on fake Buddha quotes, I suspected that it might not be authentic.   It turns out I was right!  Bodhipaska writes:

 

It’s from page 112 of Jack Kornfield’s “Buddha’s Little Instruction Book,” in which Jack “distilled and adapted an ancient teaching for the needs of contemporary life.” This is a common pattern: if a book is called “The Teaching of Buddha” or “Buddha’s Little Instruction Book” then people jump to the conclusion that any quote from it is the teaching of the Buddha or one of the Buddha’s instructions. It’s not the fault of the author, of course…

 

So the quote is fake.  I do vow to be more mindful in attributing quotes, and checking sources.  But in some ways, I think, does it matter?  If the phrase is one which is in line with the Buddha’s teachings, and is helpful to people treading the path, how important is it that the quote be “authentic”?  I would be interested to hear others’ thoughts on this.

I have also been skimming through The Life of Milarepa (I will read it properly soon ) and came across this:

Showing others the path

When you don’t know the way

Harms yourself and others

This has become jumbled up in my self doubts of yesterday.  Though I don’t think I am trying to show others the path, but only to share thoughts that I have found helpful and others may do too.  I think if we took this Milarepa quote too literally, then there would be very few dharma teachers, and that could hardly be a good thing!  But it is certainly something to chew on.

But – hey – flowers are wonderful, in the eyes of Jack Kornfield and many others, so today I am going to share a few from my garden.  A miracle, every one of them. Enjoy

A Fake or a Work-in-Progress?

A couple of things have brought me to writing this post today.

First up, Ben Naga’s mind-boggling poem “Identity Crisis“. Go and read it, then come right back

Second, a comment from someone close to me, made in the heat of an argument, along the lines of “you make out you’re this wise person, but really you’re not”

I feel like a fake.

In some blog posts, I point the reader in the direction of words of wisdom I have read from others (for example here, here and here) Words of wisdom that are inspirational to me and that I think may be inspirational to others. I recognise the wisdom of others, and aspire to follow them. I may fail. I do fail. But I try again.

I produce pages in my journal where I try to take on this wisdom and present it in such a way as it makes sense to me (and may, again, inspire others). For example here, here and here.  I do not always succeed in following my own advice.  But I try again.

I aspire to be kind and compassionate.  But often I am unkind and impatient.

I aspire to live in the moment.  But often I am plagued by regrets about the past and doubts about the future.

I aspire to be free from attachment and ego.  But often I feel insecure and in need of reassurance.

I aspire to radiate peace and happiness.  But often I radiate negativity and pessimism.

So, if I share inspirational words with you here, know that I am aspiring to follow them.  But often I fail. I am not wise. I do not have all the answers.

Maybe I am a fake.  It’s easy to present a wise persona online, where the nitty-gritty of daily life and interaction drops away.

But maybe I am just a work-in-progress, trying my best to tread this path – sometimes I stumble, sometimes I fall, hopefully I get up and try again.

The Wisdom of Viviane

Wisdom from a great Zen master? Nope, it’s from Viviane, the Lady of the Lake in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s epic “The Mists of Avalon” which I am reading on the recommendation of my fantasy-aficionado mother

The Time to Wake Up is Now

Rodney Smith, in his ego-shattering book, “Stepping Out of Self-Deception” notes three ways that lay Buddhism is inhibited. The first is the belief that monasticism and long retreats are the only way to realise one’s true nature. The second is misunderstanding the teachings of the long-enduring mind so that we believe that awakening can only arrive after a long, protracted practice history. The third, Smith says, is investing the sacred only within particular practices and conditions.

Reflecting on these, I created this journal page:

The time to wake up is now

What am I waiting for?

I don’t need to join a monastery or go off on year-long retreats.
I don’t need the perfect meditation cushion, a Tibetan singing bowl, Japanese incense, a beautifully carved wooden Buddha (nice as these may be!)
I can stop dividing my life into the sacred and “the rest”. Instead I can recognise that any moment can be a spiritual moment.
It doesn’t have to take years and years of diligent practice (unless I convince myself it does).

The question is: Do I want this or not?

I don’t need to wait for the future to be fulfilled.

The time to wake up is NOW! What am I waiting for?

Time for an Ice Cream Sundae?

I think it is according to Waif:

How Do You Do It?

A church is not for praying
It’s for celebrating the light that bleeds through the panes (or is it pains?)

The lyric is from a Hot Chip song. I love love love it. Hope you do too

Sometimes I like to be silly

This week I have had fun making some quite silly index card art.

First up some talking gnomes with memory problems:

Then, some battling in pastel shades:

And today, there is a ninja in the flower garden:

The boys have been far more sensible, of course . Here’s Gman’s pandas:

And Waif’s wolf poetry:

And today, my husband MM, also made this rather awesome card:

Meditation

Robert Thurman on What Meditation Really Is from WhatMeditationReallyIs on Vimeo.

I really love this short video about meditation – the emphasis on the fact that meditation is not a way of getting away from things, but a way of being more fully present to everything.

When people with no knowledge of Buddhism find out that I meditate, they assume that it is all about relaxing, or blissing out. For example, when I was troubled by my back a year or so ago, the physiotherapist I saw suggested that I should meditate lying down. I complied but did tell her that this was not ideal for me, because I was so much more prone to falling asleep. She seemed confused that I would think that was a problem! She thought that meditation was for relaxation, and what could be more relaxing than nodding off to sleep?!

No, the point of meditation is not to fall asleep. The point of meditation is to WAKE UP! I think Robert Thurman explains it wonderfully. Do watch

Buddha Meditate

Tuesday nights in our house are known as “Mum’s Buddha Night” – when I desert the family to go to a Buddhist meditation & study group. Last night I came home to find Waif had created this little picture and poem and left it beside the bed:

Here’s the poem (corrected for spellings ) – must do some work on the difference between where and wear!)

Buddha Meditate

Buddha is calm
Peace
Wears a robe
Meditate peacefully
Quiet
Closing eyes.

Didn’t he do a great job?

I am a bit wary of foisting religious beliefs onto my children, but do share with them any teachings that might be useful to them and make their lives easier and calmer. To that end we are reading together Thich Nhat Han’s book “A Pebble for Your Pocket“, which is a very gentle introduction to mindfulness for children.  It’s a lovely book – one that I would recommend to those of any faith or no faith, child or adult.