2012.05.01 _ 21

Clarity emerges when we STOP thinking. It can be seen when we meditate and new ideas and solutions float up from nowhere. I find it hard to keep believing that though. My mind still wants to churn away at problems, and some of that is still necessary, I guess. That enchantment with thinking will wear off, is wearing off.

"Where I Hide: Ordinary Space, Available Light"

Burning Day. After nearly two weeks of removing recyclables, the demolition crew burned what remained -- so they could cut up the frame and recycle that.

http://hermitdog.com/99-Days/trailer_5.jpg
http://hermitdog.com/99-Days/trailer_7.jpg
http://hermitdog.com/99-Days/trailer_8.jpg

Karuna-metta & inspired reading. The Tolle video I listened to yesterday suggests similar to Zen's considerations ... that in detaching from content in favor of spacious understructure, or from 'painting to paint' or 'film story to light', life may flow in a spontaneous way. Perhaps content doesn't need to be carried around for very long. Tolle, like Pema, suggests doing this conscientiously throughout the day, using cues ... such as 9 seconds. edited 21:32, 1 May 2012

Karuna-metta meditation. A little Jatakamala reading: most chapters so far are emphasizing generosity.

Talking later in PaB of the non-ubiquity of the Golden Rule. Didn't get chance to say, but I was reminded that in some cultures, and I'll cite pre-Christian north European culture and religions because I know more about them than others, there was the concept of Friðr (pronounced, roughly "Frith") embodied in both religion and society. Friðr shaped one's relations to the rest of humanity in layers, starting (very roughly for brevity) with close blood kin, then moving outwards to distant kin, local community and country. One's duties changed as the layers got more distant. For inner layers you would do whatever it took for the survival of those and more inner layers, if necessary at the expense or even harm of outer layers. However if an outer layer was threatened from outside, people would forget the differences between families, tribes and clans or even cities, and all would pull together to defend what they had in common, albeit temporarily. It's a good evolutionary model I expect! But it's a LONG way from "do as you would be done by". Not saying Friðr is better or worse than the Golden Rule; just pointing out that societies with indigenous religions often had different their own successful ways or promoting stability and survival. edited 03:18, 2 May 2012

May 1!
* A fresh new beginning. Clarifying our thoughts, burning away the inessentials, creating spaciousness.
* Will we fill that space or leave it empty?
* I wrote six long pages in my journal today; it felt good to put it all down on paper and close the book.
* My pine cone is beginning to take on colour and put on weight. edited 02:03, 2 May 2012