Thinning Carrots

You had to have a garden. You had no alternative. I can remember crawling on my hands and kness down the line to thin out the carrots. That was a hard chore, but I had a good time doing it. You sure would be happy when you got through.

~Jean Dinsmore, born 1918

Your Garden

Food prices seem to always go up. Food safety is often a concern. Produce from your own garden is flavorful and healthy. It's organic if you use no chemicals. Nothing is more local than your own garden.

Do Not Waste - Anything

We do not inherit the world from our parents, we borrow it from our children. Words to help with this practice come from Ruth Rowen, a woman who was a child during the Great Depression. Ruth says, "We prided ourselves on our economy. You never threw anything away."

A Realistic Outlook Is Necessary For Our Survival And Well-Being

A person can have a completely unrealistic outlook and still live a very happy life. For example, I have a high school friend who believes that one day Jesus will return and send evildoers to hell and take him and his family back to heaven to live with Him in paradise everlasting. This belief brings him comfort and helps him manage the sadder aspects of life. Jesus won't return, but my friend will die happily believing that one day He will.

On an individual level, this can work, to some extent. As I said, this belief makes him happy. But on a collective level, beliefs like that can be tremendously harmful. They lead people like my friend to being negligent about the environment, for example, and to push for political action that damages the world. So. long after my friend is gone, his children and grandchildren, as well as your children and grandchildren, may suffer because of my friend's mistaken belief that Jesus will return before that can happen. A realistic outlook is necessary for our overall survival and well-being.

~Brad Warner, in It Came From Beyond Zen!

The Five Ethical Precepts

1 To Respect and Protect Life

2 To Respect and Protect the Property of Others

3 To Respect and Protect Sexual Boundaries

4 To Respect and Protect the Truth

5 To Respect and Protect One's Body and Mind

Life Is Dear To All

All tremble at punishment.
Life is dear to all.
Put yourself in the place of others;
kill none nor have another killed.

                                         ~The Dhammapada, verse 130

A Friend

A friend who always lends a hand,
a friend in both sorrow and joy,
a friend who offers good counsel,
a friend who sympathizes too.

These are the four kind of true friends:
one who is wise, having understood,
will always cherish and serve such friends
just as a mother tends her only child.

                                         ~The Digha Nikaya

A More Enlightened World

It is enlightened to abolish slavery. It is enlightened to attend to the welfare of animals. It is enlightened to create the conditions for world peace. It is enlightened to help others in myriad everyday ways. It is enlightened to recognize others as brothers and sisters. It is enlightened to view yourself objectively and not collude with superstition. Basically, it is enlightened to be kind and to stand up against cruelty. Every enlightened action contributes to the emergence of a more enlightened world.

~David Brazier

Think Vegan

The Tree

In 1973, E. F. Schumacher wrote, “Every follower of the Buddha ought to plant a tree every few years and look after it until it is safely established.”
I'll take the liberty and rephrase his suggestion, “Everyone who cares about Earth and the life upon it ought to plant a tree every few years and look after it until it is safely established.”

Life

The Great Revival

Buddhism has undergone a revival in modern times — in the East as much as in the West. Why has this happened? Because people see a need for a new path to salvation after death? Surely not. Because we need another orderly, conventional, nice, Sunday religion? No. Because we want an exotic pastime pursuing mystic experiences? Perhaps for some this is the answer, but it will not do. No, the real reason is because a wide range of people have begun to suspect and hope that in Buddhism lie things of value for this world: possibilities that restore our faith in life; possibilities of culture without war and intolerance; possibilities of compassion and cooperation in social organisation; possibilities of real community that is not rooted in oppression: possibilities of all the things that people know instinctively are right for this world, but hardly dare risk believing in for fear of yet another disappointment.

~David Brazier, in The New Buddhism

Freedom from Politics and Religion

The world can never be made significantly better through political maneuvering. 

The world can never be made significantly better by religious sectarianism.

True progress comes when both politics and religion are allowed to fade away.

That's where the Buddha-Dharma, the Middle Way, comes into play.

In the Practice of the Middle Way, the Teachings given by Gotama Buddha before people got hold of them and made a religion out of them, the nonsense of religious rules and regulations is allowed to fade away. The nonsense of political expediency and cronyism is allowed to fade away.

In the Middle Way we accept justice, fairness, equality, democracy as they were always meant to be; not the "Animal Farm" approach that religion and politics seems unable to escape.

Within the Practice of the Middle Way, it's not the end of the journey that counts, it's the journey itself.

One trains by being what ones wants to be, what one wants society to be. 

For a peaceful person, a peaceful society, the way there is to be peaceful.

For a just person, a just society, the way there is to be just.

For a person guided by equality, a society guided by equality, the way there is to be guided by equality.

And on, and on, and on. This isn't rocket science. Be nice. Treat everything like you want to be treated. 

Don't be a jerk to anything.

Simple Lettuce Soup to Soothe a Sick Tummy

10 ounces of cremini mushrooms, sliced
4 cups of vegetable broth (This is the foundation of the soup, make it a good broth.)
2 cups of cooked rice
2 cups of finely shredded dark green lettuce
2 green onions, thinly sliced.
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Your favorite chili sauce as a condiment

Combine the mushrooms and the 4 cups of broth in a large saucepan or Dutch oven, bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer gentle for 10 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until everything is heated through, about 7 or 8 minutes.

This will make 2 hearty servings, or 6 dainty servings.

I Hope No One Ever Grows Too Old For This Story

The Piglet lived in a very grand house in the middle of a beech-tree, and the beech-tree was in the middle of the forest, and the Piglet lived in the middle of the house. Next to his house was a piece of broken board which had" "TRESPASSER W" on it. When Christopher Robin asked the Piglet what it meant, he said it was his grandfather's name and had been in the family for a long time.

`---A. A. Milne, in Winnie-the Pooh---

Post-Election

      


                          Breathing in,
                          I calm my body.

                          Breathing out,
                          I smile.

Love, Compassion, and Wisdom

Reading Books