online: 29 october 2017
modified: 29 october 2017

11 october 2017 cold wind and the essence of Buddhism


...pleased to be returning to familiar seat and view of the prehistoric Ridgeway (a hilltop path) on the northern horizon...

...a man and woman each carrying a baby while two larger infants walk irregularly between them as they all move together across the field before me... a tall man with white sleeveless shirt and white dog follows them... as gusts of cold wind blow leaves about... some at ground level and some from tops of trees... watery grey clouds look as if they will bring rain in minutes... i set off to walk by Seven Sisters Ponds that end nearby...

...walked beside the ponds until reach the only seat in the vicinity... tiny raindrops appear on touch screen so i unfold a sheltering flap... the pond seems nearly choked with fallen leaves though many are still attached to branches despite the cold autumn wind...

...walking my way on pondside path beset with tree roots and other obstructions i find myself in a cul de sac out of which i can barely move uphill with defective legs assisted by two trekking poles that seem ineffective on slopes though very helpful on the flat... but eventually overcome the obstacle by 'falling uphill' to retain balance... (which seems to be a 'minimal motion' to retain dynamic stability... a fact that may be obvious to anyone who's tried to teach a baby to walk or a beginner to ride a bicycle)...

...and now (in my 91st year) to widen the scope of this diary:

...then came the forecast rain... and click-clacking my way on concrete pavements to the nearest bus stop... i arrive home... and am writing this paragraph

...something set me reading two books on Buddhism... open one blindly at pages 99 -100... which seems to me to include the essence of Buddhism... here are some of the words that i underlined:

Suffering, pain, unhappiness, and problems do not exist outside the mind.


from Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, 2002, page vii.

the path to enlightenment is really very simple - all we need to do is to is stop cherishing ourself and learn to cherish others.

from Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Transform your Life, A Blissful Journey, 2001, page 100


...could these be the beginning of a new story?


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