Housekeeping
By Michael Erlewine
My Dharma teacher for 36 years, the Ven. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, said this:
“If we look carefully, every thought we have is either beneficent or maleficent.”
I found it unsettling when I actually examined my own thoughts. Even if I was just trying to be funny or make a joke, and it might appear harmless, it was not.
And I have less patience for what I call vitriol or maliciousness, folks that are just being mean for meanness’ sake. I’m not looking for arguments other than the constructive kind. And I don’t have time or inclination for what obviously is aggressive intent. These folks can keep their distance. I forget that attitude still exists on the Internet, and it has not been seen around this blog much.
Perhaps I’m just getting old.
One of the signs of getting old is that we keep imaging that if we just get through this or that, life will be normal again. Not likely. We are still trying to climb the hill of life, and it has become a downhill slide, unwelcome events are just waiting to occur and they will eventually pile up.
As for these recent days, they are not quite spring but promise spring. The green is starting to come back to the grass. Some of my time has been taken up driving 100 mile round-trips to a hospital in Grand Rapids, helping a close friend get surgery
As for around home, lately I have been going through a large 13-drawer flat-file cabinet, huge drawer-by-drawer organizing many hundreds of posters and illustrations. It is time I sorted through them all. I am also framing dozens of posters too and posting a lot on the walls of our center and our home. I include four posters by the great poster artist Bob Frieed, which I am going to use to decorate our living room. I include a photo below.
And yes, there is a bit of an otherworldly quality to all this, but I don’t have a handle on it enough to find words to express it. I will find the words and they are almost there or at least coming into focus.
When talking about flowers and plants, the common parlance when the flowers start to get old is that they are “finishing up.” Well, at almost 85 I guess you could say that I am finishing up, yet what does that mean?
It’s all about resting in place and letting go on a deeper level, meaning letting go, letting my grip go and open up enough so that what’s been held down and suppressed can rise up, pass by, and head out.
Hot air rises.
[Midjourney graphic prompted by me depicting the uphill climb that become increasingly more difficult with age..]
EMAIL Michael@Erlewine.net Note: If you would like to have access to other free books, articles, and videos on these topics, here are the links: StarTypes.com.
As Bodhicitta is so precious,
May those without it now create it,
May those who have it not destroy it,
And may it ever grow and flourish.