Don’t want Catholicism, Protestantism, or Judaism. Don’t force me to become a Hindu, a Muslim or even a Buddha. Let me form a “Me-ism,” a spirituality that takes a lot from all the above and blends it into what I feel inside when I’m alone and away from the “Shall Nots,” the 84,000 teachings, and a belief that the “hereafter” must be better than the present.
Category Archives: meditation
A body speaks its mind to free and heal you
I felt free for the first time in a long time today. Dr. Jodi Schwartz-Levy conducted a Somatic Therapy session for four practioners, and each walked away with all expectations met. And then some.
Or Should I Say “Soma?”
Take a risk; a new you may emerge from it!
A card turned over as I accidentally moved my hand to uncover four other small cards randomly picked from a tray on the carpeted floor. Sitting in the Lotus position with a legless “cloth” chair to support my back, I leaned over to read the card.
“Risk” is all that it said. There was a tiny picture of an angel that somehow reminded me of pre-teen girls who just gave up playing with dolls and turned to thoughts of Celestial Beings. Not the Old Testament God Almighty with Fire and Brimstone, but the soft, gentle “Angels” that serve as guardians.
Recalling a Few (25) of My Favorite Things
I wish all of our days could be filled with memories of the greatest moments of our lives. None of mine would go down in history or make it into Guinness Book of World Records.
But each is worth its weight in gold, a treasure of memories that anyone, even a prisoner serving a life-sentence behind bars, is free to recall anytime, anyplace.
I dig chicks: all eight that just hatched!
Eight chicks broke out of their shells recently, as we turned the bathroom in our Conshohocken, PA, home into a temporary chicken coop.
2010 Time Capsule: Nick’s HS Class Trip
Saw you off on your class trip, Nick, and while we parted on a bad note, I want to leave something to perhaps get the sour taste out of our mouths.
Fowl locked up after spiritual book bash
The rooster rushed me as I turned my back. I had just gotten two paperback books from the mailbox and was preparing to feed him.
He got right into my face. Literally, as I bent to ward off his assault with the only protection I held in my hands. The books.
Make yourself a clean, well-lighted place
There’s nothing like a clean, well-lighted sink.
Got three of them shining the other day. I usually wipe one every morning I shower, removing the half-used toothpaste drops, moustache trimmings and occasional pieces of hair from a head that doesn’t need to lose any more. Hair, that is.
40 years later, I learn about ‘Nothing’
It took me some 40 years, but I think I finally realized what John Lennon was saying in one of the last songs he wrote and sang with the Beatles.
Buddhist Teaching of ‘Nothing‘ is Everything
Writing the old-fashioned way inspires me
Prolific is as Prolific Does.
Got inspired to write while working on my third cup of coffee. I wait the 90 minutes I’ve given to a meeting I scheduled at IKEA in Conshohocken, PA, for Highly Sensitive Persons (HSP).  Continue reading
Now is when path and goal merge as one
I entered the world of the Mystic while sitting on a bench at the foot of my bed in what seems a lifetime ago. It lasted only a moment. But the realization struck me like a bolt of lightning.
Remembering the Greatest Time of my Life
What does your first memorable kiss, scoring a break-away touchdown and opening to your Higher Self all have in common?
Miracle copies manifest at Philly VA Center
Does the Universe conspire to create minor miracles on a given day? Yes. But only if you believe in modern-day miracles.
I experienced several on February 16, 2010, with the last manifesting over a two-day period in the history of miracles for Contoveros. (For the series, see Rooster helps open path to miraculous day)
Acupuncture pitches ‘halvies’ to a Vet
Had an “out-of-body” experience.
Twice. Once on my stomach, the other on my back. Got “acupunctured.” Second time for my back. First for PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Back got punctured a dozen times in various parts of the body, starting in areas other than the back.
‘Yes’ you can ‘Whirl’ & ‘Close’ to a Jury
My “performance” complete, I drop to my chair, taking deep breaths, trying to avoid showing what the past action has cost me.
Dolphins display love as human escorts
Hung over. Tired. Hard to get out of bed.
What happened? I had nothing to drink . . . no alcohol . . . no drugs.
Don’t let Love speed away; but yield slowly
Cont’d from Part I, Dolphins display love as human escorts
Opening up to a stranger is never easy. But when you feel trust and an open vulnerability offered to you, you can shed your safeguards and become the loving person I believe we were always meant to be. Just yield slowly.
VA Hearing raises PTSD questions of trust
Why do I feel the VA (Veterans Administration) likes to push my face into the mud every once in a while? Like treating me like a number, not a person, another Vietnam War survivor that someone on some staff gets paid for seeing, stamping and shuffling off after extracting information to satisfy the Great Bureaucracy.
Allison’s creating colors for life’s canvas
Allison,
Hold onto to it. (That feeling of bliss that you can find only in the quiet.)
Better yet, remember it, as if your Life depends on it.
Three Mile Island Erupts with Memories
The looming towers of Three Mile Island (TMI) grew in size as I drove from Conshohocken to Harrisburg, PA, some 90 miles away. It was on this very day, March 28, 1979, that America experienced fear and second-guessing of its decision to build nuclear reactors so close to populated areas.
‘I wanna go home’ starts & ends within
On reading “I wanna go home,” I was moved to respond about Love Within:
Reach inside of yourself. Look for the Love. It’s there. Now, let it flow throughout your body, your system. Never mind thoughts trying to intrude onto this feeling. Your love is stronger and mightier than any thought — negative or otherwise.
All life needs is a warm touch to survive
Kim, you inspire me to lose meaty issues
You never know where your thoughts may take you when you blog. A reply to another’s post may become your “post of the day” if you’re not careful. Or, if another person writings inspire you to reveal yourself . . . Continue reading
Words to live by, not to state them by
“. . . Grow Spiritually and Help Others to Do So . . .
It’s the Meaning of Life . . .”
— Leo Tolstoy
Governor destroyed in the dark of a dream
A judge destroyed the governor, while I survived an explosion before winning a civil rights case in court. This was all in a dream.
PTSD’s permanent address is at my home
Compensation and Review Board is the name given to a panel of persons with the Veterans’ Administration that recommends whether a disability rating should be approved for a deserving veteran.
True Love can Quench Allison’s Desire #1
Your “Beloved,” is what you need. You yearn and long for Him, don’t you?
Always have, always will.
my love longs for ever more
Some words, phrases, even entire messages look different through the lens of time. Take this feeling I expressed to a friend half-way around the world about the “yearning” I felt on reading Sufi poems for the first time. It moved me so much that I “penned” my own feelings of life-long “longing” to be with, what the Sufis call, “my Beloved” — the Higher Being that can take the shape of your Most Perfect Loved One, the Divine.  Continue reading
Dance with love where ever you find Him
I danced a Sufi “dervish whirling” at the Buddhist Center today.
New Worlds open at the turn of a page
A door to the possible mysteries of life opened slightly yesterday. My friend, Joy, introduced me to the Kabbalah.
JhanaJian Skypes My Wild Imagination
How often do we get inspired by the words of another? A comment? A reply? A post that moves you to go deep within yourself and pull up some heart-felt reaction to another’s idea, image or creation?
Cat’s Meow: ‘Thank you, I Love you too!’
I’m a “Cat Person.” Always been as far back as I can remember. Grew up with the felines rubbing up against the legs, “meowing” their concerns for the next meal or a friendly pat on the head and neck.
Let the sun shine with all our appreciation
(Cont’d from Sun shines to make up for snowed in winter)
Sun Shines Bright with Only One Eye Opened
On and off clicks the light from the sun. On and off, on and off, and so it goes. The sun winning this playful skirmish with tall objects on the Earth below. Light to dark, light to dark flashes before my eye. (Got an eye patch “over me left eye, young Mr. Hawkins,” like Long John Silvers from Treasure Island, but mine’s from a detached retina, and not from pirating!) Something is causing some effect on a part of my brain as my good pupil enlarges and decreases like a strobe light at a Heavy Metal concert with me thrown into a mosh pit.
Sun shines to make up for snowed in winter
Played “peek-a-boo” with the sun and shade this morning. On the road from Ambler to Conshohocken, PA, I engaged Old Sol in a game the Almighty must have created for mankind’s appreciation. Why else would God — who caused the sun to come into being from some huge cosmic explosion — have invented shadows? It’s all part of His Love for us humans!
‘Rock Star’ lightens the hold on this Life
I squeeze the malachite stone as if it was one of those “stress” balls used to relieve tension and exercise the forearm.
Malachite rocks me & all of my chakras
Con’td from Time travel a stone’s throw (or hold) away
Never thought I’d experience a vision of prehistoric times while attending a “stone reading,” but that’s exactly what happened Friday. And my attraction to the Malachite rock has grown as I feel its calming influence each time I handle it.
Continue reading
Time travel a stone’s throw (or hold) away
A vision of prehistoric man appears as I meditate with a Malachite stone in my hand. I am that person, that man who is bare-chested and hairy in this meditative “dream.” So much hair growing at my chest and back I initially think I’m wearing a covering over my upper body. The hair on my head is long, tangled and unwashed. Don’t think I ever combed it, even with my fingers, let alone use some devise to run through the matted hair follicles.
Rooster attacks out of need for Love & Play
The “Sombitch” turned twelve yesterday (March 12, 2010). He celebrated his 12-month-old birth on Earth by repeatedly attacking a black umbrella with a sharp, pointed metal top.
Oh Lovers: Never, Never Abandon Love
I close my eyes and my Sufi teacher guides me.
When Spirit moves you, kneel & adore Him
Already kneeling while sweeping litter from the powder room floor where the cats spilled, I sat back on my haunches. A clean commode beckoned to me. Yeah, I felt a “calling“ from this white porcelain-based ancestor of the old “WC” (“water closet” to the Baby-Boomers who called it the “John” or simply the toilet).
Grass always greener on non-paved side
For a better over-all life, PLEASE STAY “ON” THE GRASS.
Sufi Love fondly remembered at a ‘Dhikr’
I focus on my hands clasped together in front of my lower chest, with one good eye barely open and the other hidden behind a black eye-patch.
I am “whirling.” Circling on a carpeted floor at a Quaker Meeting Hall room going round and round. No dizziness this, my second time out. I project a feeling of Love and “nudge out‘” fears of falling and/or appearing awkward and uncoordinated. I am dancing with my “Beloved,” as a dervish man displaying his affection to the Oneness of the Universe, the Glory of the Spirit.
Skype opens the world of tomorrow today
The Future is Now.
I spoke from the USA to a woman in Scotland Monday and felt my world leap ahead a full millennium as I “saw” her on my computer screen at the same time I spoke to her. I had never experienced this before. Never knew society had such technology.
PTSD battle takes its toll in Life-Long Fear
You don’t know how easily I scare.
I hate to admit this, but I become afraid when I get into harm’s way. I try to avoid it. Try to go with the flow. But when harm settles in my general area, I become as timid as a rabbit jumping back in a hole after seeing his own shadow.
Live life today in love for death tomorrow
- Disobey your expectations.
- Throw away the list of things to do.
- Live today as if there was no tomorrow.
- Better yet, live as if Death will greet you very soon.
Surprise! You’re HSP and never knew it
“Chef J” had no idea what she was getting herself into when she surfed the computer early Saturday morning. But, by the end of the day, she found more than a dozen people who were “just like her,” struggling to make sense of a world that seems cold to the sensitivity of others.
A shower can bless me today, if I but let go
Running water. Somebody designed a way to allow it to flow from a water way directly into our houses. And not just to one spot in my Conshohocken, PA, home, but at least four: the kitchen, two bathrooms and a spigot for hosing plants outdoors.
Heaven appears now in Love from within
Heaven on Earth. What a beautiful idea.
Why must one wait for death to enjoy this state of eternity? Why not enter while one is still alive?
Like right now.
International greetings shared back home
Went “international” yesterday. Had breakfast near my home in Conshohocken and greeted 11 people from five countries as I “table-hopped” brandishing my All-American smile, learning you don’t have to travel the world to find your Self. The world can find you right where you live. If you open your heart.
Speak up if you enjoy the art of listening
I talk too much.
Didn’t always. I was one of those “quiet” ones when I was young. Seen, and not heard. I believed that “empty barrels made the most noise,” as the nuns taught us in grade school.
Nicholas: Happy 18th Birthday, Son
“He’s a real banana head,” the doctor who delivered you pronounced right after your birth. You looked more like a “prune” with all those wrinkles, kinda like an aging Dwight Eisenhower or a Winston Churchill, but with a lot more wrinkles.
Tibetan singing bowl aids a goddess & me
Kneeling on my knees, I hold the bowl out with one hand, while placing the other hand on the wooden floor, crawling from one side of the chair to another.
Ring of truth played with bowls & forks
My shoulders have grown enormously since this afternoon. I feel they’re “indestructible.” That I have durable lightweight plastic pads all around the neck, the collarbone and the head, as well as my upper chest and back. Energy of some sorts is protecting me from all harm to those areas. And it may be rubbing off on what they call the “Chakras‘ to my heart and higher parts.
Buddha guides me thru VA PTSD path
Possibly Cont’d from Trappist monk helps veteran ‘awaken’ me
Buddha came in the shape of a dark-haired, dark-skinned attractive yoga-practicing woman, smiling upon me in a dream.
Continue readingBlindness warning wraps ’round wrist
Originally Cont’d From Bubble battles detached retina’s blinding 1-16-10 Continue reading
Name-caller gets his butt kicked in the end
Originally Cont’d from Name-calling can get you kicked in the end 1-28-10
Calling a kid names could cause a lasting scar one may have to deal with later in life. It’s either that, or you learn to “toughen up“ as I did, and let the wise-cracks, the slurs, the hate-filled and ignorant remarks simply glide over you.
‘Shining Moment’ sends me ‘Soaring High’
Originally Cont’d from Youth recaptured through football hurdle 1-22-10
You had to be a little tough to grow up in Brewerytown, the neighborhood of Philadelphia I called home for the first part of my life. You also needed to be open to other ways of life, different religions, and those of another race.
‘First Love Found’, never lost a Heartbeat
Orginally Cont’d From Love’s First Kiss) 12-2-09
What was it like to be a pre-teen, meeting a person who’d, maybe one day, be the Love of your Life? And what did you do when someone turned down the lights in the cellar party . . . and you were alone . . . finally. Your hands touched, and your eyes melted while looking at the other’s face, their smile, their warm and inviting eyes.
* * * * * * * * *
‘Letting Go’ Requires Faith and Hope
Cont’d from Seeing is believing in the ‘letting go’ process 1-30-10
“Letting go” is a process I thought I had completely bought into when I “gave up” trying to control things and had surgery done on my eye.
Part III, Don’t “Squander Away” Your Life
Originally Cont’d from Don’t squander away your life 12-5-09
How can I deal with PTSD and prevent “squandering away” my life?
Part II, Don’t ‘Squander Away’ Your Life
(Originally Cont’d from PTSD alert: don’t squander away your life 12-5-09)
‘Don’t Squander Away Your Life!’
Englightenment shines from the heart
Originally Cont’d from Can’t A Guy Get A Break Around Here? 1-9-10
The throne we just put together at the Ethical Society of Philadelphia looks real! I bet folks here haven’t seen its likeness since King George ruled over the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1775, and Ben Franklin was trying to draw us closer as a “Royal Colony.”
Trappist Monk helps Veteran ‘Awaken’ me
Con’td from Schuylkill Expressway miracle paves road to VA
The first Buddha emerged in my dream as a muscular military-type, with short-cropped hair and engaging smile. Asian? No, Hispanic, but with a possible trace of someone from an exotic Asian island.
Visit with Disabled American Veterans (DAV)
Love found ‘idol-ing’ at Omega Institute
Some of my favorite “idols” appeared at the Omega Institute, upstate New York, (USA) while on a meditation retreat for veterans with PTSD in October 2009.
Gender ‘illusion’ fools a macho man
Originally Cont’d from Macho man marvels at mistaken miss 1-5-10
“Enlightened” is the only way I can describe how I felt after sharing thoughts with my new friend, JhanaJian, who shook my reality with something I was not ready to hear. I had viewed this person one way and was forced to alter that viewpoint as truth hit me right in the eye.
Are you the teacher I am yearning for?
Who will be my teacher?
Where can I find that person who can show me where to walk on this new path I’ve chosen?
Flowers offer a heart-felt home-coming
Originally Cont’d from Flowers still brighten up my new ‘home’ 1-4-10
Flowers brighten up any room, and the right vase can add an extra touch, particularly, when the arranger puts a lot of Love into the mix.
“Gotta give ’em a little ‘respect,’ that’s all”
Originally Cont’d from Humility helps love grow despite our Self12-20-09
There ain’t nothing humbling in what I adopted in trying to “get ahead” in my life . . . I can do anything I set my mind to had become my motto — it’s the type of superior attitude that we all admire, don’t we? Those who can’t adapt to this way of thinking ought to simply get out of the way. Look out world, here I come!
God’s Presence Realized at Breakfast Table
Schuylkill X-way Miracle paves road to VA
Cont’d from ‘Right’ path never obstructed long, Part II
The Buddha appeared in a dream. He took on the forms of a soldier, a counselor and then a computer printer. How could such an entity take shape in such different apparitions?
It all started as I entered a building. President Barack Obama’s picture beamed on a wall as I walked through a large room, cordoned off by dozens of partitions, creating offices upon offices of civil servants working for me and thousands of other veterans from the United States.
Dreamcatcher opens avenues for healing
Originally Cont’d from Pranic Healing Begets Mighty Meta Care 12-3-09
I don’t mind letting my feelings show in public. Especially here, in the “Dreamcatcher” building on Route 73, some 20 miles outside Philadelphia. It’s dark in this room. Hell, I have my eyes closed, and no one can actually see me. Let it flow, I tell myself. Let this expression of purifying Love wash over my cheeks, my beard, my chin.
Dream helps guide me back to Paradise
Originally Cont’d from Dream Reveals Key to Paradise 12-2-09
I realized that I was in Paradise.
No, not the Paradise mentioned in our religious books about an Adam and Eve in a Garden of Eden. My Paradise was within, existing immediately before I had eaten from the fruit of the Knowledge Tree, the source of later intelligence, the later development of the mind and its control of my life.
Being ‘Childlike’ Helps ‘Curb Aging’ – 2
Originally Cont’d from “In the end, ‘being childlike’ curbs aging” 11-24-09
Experiencing Silence
Jury Duty Requires Your ‘Just Reasoning’
(Originally Cont’d from 999 reasons why a Buddhist can sit on jury 1-31-10)
While explaining his enlightening story to students, Tshering noted that a vicious attack ended, as the monster known as Angulimala fell to the ground and the Buddha consoled him offering loving kindness and compassion. This experience completely transformed this lowly criminal. He asked to be ordained a monk, and he went on to practice meditation and self-purification while living in a Sangha community.
‘One-Eyed Jack’ provides more meditation
Originally Cont’d from Steroids Pushed as Far as the Eye can See 2-5-10
I’ve developed a fear of changes I’ve been forced to make and have a concern with the almost constant pain in the bad eye. It’s a low threshold of irritation, but a pain, nevertheless, that is taking more of a toll on me. Like headaches. Nothing acute, but a numbing sensation that increases as my blood pressure rises, or as my heartbeat increases, creating a throbbing pain.
The Eyes Have It Until A ‘Tear’ Catches Up
(Originally Cont’d from Eye “balling” new game for aging vision 2-7-10)
Floaters are common and are usually quite harmless, according to MyDr. (The following is from the site, MyDr see below).
‘Right’ path never obstructed long, Part II
Originally Cont’d from ‘Right’ path may never be obstructed long 2-18-10
Not once did I have to step on the brake. And I left my house shortly before 9 am — the tail end of rush-hour traffic — to get to a 10 o’clock appointment.
Beg Your Pardon; I Mistook Your Attention
Sometimes, you just gotta learn the hard way. Take Blogging for example.
IKEA: good company & meals to grow on
Miriam,
We have to stop meeting like this. People at IKEA here in Conshohocken may get the wrong idea. They think we come for the 99-cent breakfast special, with all the coffee you can drink for free if you’re here by 10 am.
Buckle stabilizing retina called ‘excellent’
The “buckle” holding the retina in place on my left eye the past 30 days looks “excellent,” Dr. Ali Zaidi announced Wednesday. What’s more important, my vision has improved, and there’s hope for more improvement before I’m to get a new corrective lens prescription, following a detached retina operation Jan. 22, 2010.
Retreat causes ‘after shocks’ from within
A day-long Retreat at a Buddhist Center in Philadelphia has taken its toll on me. And I mean that in the best of ways!
A ‘right’ path may never be obstructed long
Con’td from Rooster helps open path to miraculous day
Oh no! I forgot my ID. Second day in a row I pulled such a stupid stunt. And here I am, braving the snow and cold to drive from Conshohocken, PA, to the Veterans Administration building in Philadelphia.
Modern Conclusion Bodhisattva Practices
Below are two versions of the “conclusion” for Thirty-Seven Bodhisattva Practices, starting with the modern first:
The 37 Bodhisattva Practices Conclusion
The “Thirty-Seven Bodhisattva Practices” text was “prepared and distributed” at the request of “His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche” after one of his “disciples” provided me with the small 2-by 4-1/2-inch booklet containing two or three “Practices“ per page. The booklet said its distribution was for “the benefit of all sentient beings.”
Continue readingRooster helps open path to miraculous day
The rooster crows outside my kitchen door. Not once, but several times. Wait a minute! It’s 7:30 in the morning. He’s supposed to be up the hill in the shed converted into a chicken coop. What happened?
You forgot to lock the trap door, Michael J. Forgot to close it. Or simply forgot to round-up the four feathered critters and herd them into their warm wooden environment. That could mean they spent the night outdoors.
A new tutor learns a lesson from real life
I hope to start to tutor Natalka about the English language. And, at the same time, learn more of life than I ever could from any book.
Natalka needs to improve her language skills as a teacher of 2 and 3-year-olds at a pre-school outside Conshohocken, PA, here in the USA. She came from the “Old World,” the one behind the notorious “Iron Curtain.” And while she obtained a master’s degree in Chemistry while in Ukraine, her school “directors” want her to speak and write our language more fluently.
Bodhisattvas’ (Compassion) Practices -37
37
In order to clear away the suffering of limitless beings, through the wisdom realizing the purity of the three spheres, to dedicate the virtue attained by making such effort for enlightenment is the Bodhisattvas’ practice.
Bodhisattvas’ (Compassion) Practices -36
36
In brief, whatever conduct one engages in, one should ask, “What is the state of my mind?” Accomplishing others’ purpose through constantly maintaining mindfulness and awareness is the Bodhisattvas’ practice.
‘Barrister Bu’ — a ‘Buddha nature’ lawyer
I’ve been trying to think of a name to describe myself along this new path I walk — often stumbling — but getting back up like that old Fred Astaire song which says to “pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start all over again . . .“ I figure everybody should have a response when asked what religion they follow, rather than fumbling for an answer.
Bodhisattvas’ (Compassion) Practices -35
35
When disturbing emotions are habituated, it is difficult to overcome them with antidotes. By arming oneself with the antidotal weapon of mindfulness, to destroy disturbing emotions such as desire the moment they first arise is the Bodhisattvas’ practice.
Engine Won’t Start? Meditate, Don’t Panic
Car Won’t Start.
Again. Continue reading
Bodhisattvas’ (Compassion) Practices -34
34
Because harsh words disturb others’ minds and cause the Bodhisattva’s conduct to deteriorate, abandoning harsh speech which is unpleasant to others is the Bodhisattvas’ practice.
Tooting own horn doesn’t work nowadays
How many car “beeps‘ does it take to warn someone of possible danger?
Awakening from the Winter Storm of 2010
I slept in today. It was the third day in a row that my son was off school because of the great snowstorm of the Winter of 2010. How many of us can recall a time in our lives that school closed for three straight days due to snow?
Bodhisattvas’ (Compassion) Practices -33
33
Because the influence of gain and respect causes quarreling and the decline of the activities of listening, pondering and meditation, to abandon attachment to the households of friends, relations and benefactors is the Bodhisattvas’ practice.
Snow chore brings father closer to a son -2
Cont’d from Snow chore brings a father closer to his son
Removing snow was always a small challenge. But I prided myself on getting out of the house quickly and providing a safe route for pedestrians and our family cats and different dogs over the years to scamper in the rather expansive upper yard.
Snow chore brings father closer to a son -3
Con’td from Snow chore brings father closer to a son -2
Nick has completed a fourth of the shoveling that remained to be done by the time I go back outdoors. I’m refreshed following the digging out from our snowed-in house here on the u of the USA Wednesday. I now can walk the full length of the brick path.
Making Way Through Snow to a Chicken Coop
Just have to step onto 24-inch snow drifts another 20 to 25 feet to get to the door of the chicken coop and clear away the ground where the door will swing open. Don’t want to spill any of this chicken food I prepared inside our home. Afraid if I put it down, I’ll knock it over by stepping on it or swinging the door into it.
Slowly, I “brush” aside the snow, remove the long metal part bracing the door, then unlatch it. I see very little because of the darkness inside. It’s after 6 p.m. now. We started shoveling when it was still light out but lost the light as the minutes dropped off with each shovelful of snow.
Snow was so heavy in some places, that one of “durable” plastic shovels broke right off the handle. Will use the plastic as a heavy-duty dustpan come the next several seasons. I’ll use the wooden handle as a stake.
I walk inside the shed we converted into a chicken coop. All four of the fowl huddle together on a four-foot-high cage below the electric heater. I barely make out the rooster before hearing some clucking.
My Son Will Soon Complete the Snow Removal
I can feed them and not worry about digging the rest of the pathway, I begin to think. Nick will complete the rest of the task. And, I have enough confidence in him, that I know he’ll do a good job, and not cut corners.
After finishing feeding the birds and the “Cwazy Rabbit,” Nick and I look over our handy work, the snow removal. The falling snow has covered much of what we had just exposed. An hour or two later, we’ll look out the dining room window and see two more inches have fallen, covering the pathway we just dug.
Stuck inside the house while Winter howls outside, we watched two movies together. Looked at pictures taken of Nick when he played in the worst snow storm of the century, the “Winter of ’96,” (that was the ‘Twentieth Century,’ remember 1996?) and I can’t help but feel grateful that it has taken an act of Mother Nature to bring my son and I so closer together. As family. As friends. As loved ones.
Beginning of story:
Snow chore brings a father closer to his son
Snow chore brings a father closer to his son
Never knew having a son would be so rewarding.
Bodhisattvas’ (Compassion) Practices -32
32
If influenced by disturbing emotions, one points out another’s Bodhisattva’s faults, oneself is diminished. Therefore, not speaking about the faults of those who have entered the Great Vehicle is the Bodhisattvas’ practice.
Bodhisattvas’ (Compassion) Practices -31
31
If, having merely the appearance of a practitioner, one does not investigate one’s own mistakes, it is possible to act contrary to the Dharma. Therefore, constantly examining one’s own errors and abandoning them is the Bodhisattvas’ practice.
Contoveros 