Monday, July 26, 2010

Complaints

Are complaints on the other side of gratitude? Recently found myself getting upset about the small things: miso soup that tasted like dirty water, fire alarms that go off at 430am making our room flash like we were from Star Trek. Was it a matter that I had not eaten a wholesome meal for am few days, or that my wife was so startled by the flashing room that she hurt her back getting out of bed? So things were not the way I wanted them to be. Who said they were supposed to?
The oil leak has been stopped. What can I do with my wory brain now?
Saturday the priest talked about how we take it personally when bad things happen to us. The miso soup, obviously prepared especially for me, and the defective alarm system... obviously programmed for my wife's entertainment. So what happens when we realize that the bad stuff of life is not directed to us, but is just a product of "things as they are?" We'll see.

Note about picture: Worked a week on this with the ipad... then got frustrated that it was taking so long so I started working on it in Photoshop for another week.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The miso soup was perfect, you failed to appreciate it. I hope Linda is feeling much better. H.

Reflections on Talks on Buddha's Lists

During a recent Appamada Intensive our students gave talks on Buddha's lists. Here are my reflections on their talks.