Living and Loving
Sacred Stories
She and her husband found this bear at a rock shop in Canada and they both fell in love with it.
His passing was such a shock…. and loss.
They had divorced, remaining devoted.
Making arrangements with the funeral home, she stopped at a shop. The first thing she saw was this heart.
“It felt like he was sending BIG LOVE today….”
Sacred Stories
Looking down at the jigsaw puzzle she had been working on over the past couple of days, she saw a face near the base of the mountain, and heard in her head, “The hills are alive.”
Immediately she thought of a dear friend with a gorgeous singing voice. That song was her friend’s favorite.
“Alexa, play Sound of Music: The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music.”
As the music began, she and her husband said at the same exact time, “That is B_ _ _ _ _!”
She had a quick wondering if it might be anniversary energy since her friend had been hospitalized with acute pancreatitis last year about this time. She contracted Covid-19 while in the hospital and passed in April.
A couple hours later, she received a text from B_ _ _ _ _’s daughter — requesting urgent prayers for herself and their son at the news her former husband had died in his sleep during the night!
The following morning as she checked in with B_ _ _ _ _’s daughter by text, she mentioned the hills are alive puzzle experience.
“Do you know when your mom went into the hospital?” she asked. “I wondered if it was anniversary energy.”
B_ _ _ _ _’s daughter sent a text message back, “OMG, it is!!! Yesterday was the day she went to ER.”
If you have had experiences of the continuity of consciousness, please share those. Tell everyone the hills are alive….
Sacred Stories
Her father had recently passed, out in California. It was so hard. She was stuck on the other side of the country.
She sent a message to a friend. “My dad’s memorial is at 4:00 today, out in California.”
“Of course, grateful you know you can bilocate to be there in your heart,” her friend responded. “At that time, set your intention, go within and BE THERE.”
“Absolutely right!” she shot back.
“Do you have a piece of jewelry of his?” her friend queried.
“No,” she answered.
Her friend continued, “It was a bit odd to me that a man mentioned jewelry. Do YOU have a meaningful piece of jewelry?”
“Yes.”
“What is that?”
“Mom’s engagement ring… from him!”
Sacred Stories
Her writing that day during the poetry writing group time was a blog post. In that post, she quoted from An Eschatological Laundry List by Sheldon Kopp.
The subtitle is A Partial Register of the 927 (or was it 928?) Eternal Truths.
When she finished reading her blog post, another of the women in the group grew quiet, began counting in her head, and then shared, “In 1977 my brother sent me a saying …. I do not even remember the saying now…. I thought the term ‘eschatological laundry list’ was something he had just made up…. I had no idea there was an actual list.”
Whatever the saying sent and received in 1977, obviously he had wanted his sister to know about the laundry list!
Imagine our surprise to realize we had arrived at an ALL (perhaps I should say ONLY) Spanish-speaking pharmacy for our first covid vaccine in Hialeah, Florida, on Monday….
I would be lying if I said I was not nervous.
Hell, I was nervous before we drove across the state of Florida.
Seeing where we were was just the next step!
I was tapping away on the side of my hand.
What I most remember Sheldon for is “An Eschatological Laundry List: A Partial Register of the 927 (or was 928?) Eternal Truths. .” Specifically # 33.
We did not know the CVS pharmacy we had registered at for our vaccines was in a Cuban-American community.
We did not know you could confuse Preparation H with tooth paste if you did not read Spanish.
We did not know we would be treated with kindness and patience, but we were.
In English “a dios mio” means “Oh, my goodness.” If the “D” is capitalized, it means, “Oh, God….”
# 32 is probably worth noting as well. We must live with the ambiguity of partial freedom, partial power, and partial knowledge.
Of course, things are more obvious now.
I hope you will take time to read the whole laundry list from If you meet the Buddha on the Road kill him, by Sheldon Kopp. (Sheldon Press, London, 1974, pages 165-167)
I don’t know if the typos are on purpose but # 43 reminds us to forgive ourselves again and again and again and again….
Tapping with Scarlett Lewis of The Forgiveness Project during the World Tapping Summit, my heart opened deeply related to a stream of past energies. Scarlett’s 6-year-old son, Jesse, was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the deadliest mass shooting at a school in U.S. history.
Interestingly, soon after tapping in forgiveness with Scarlett I was gifted some precious stories demonstrating what happens when you do what YOU can do.
That toad rode home in her passenger seat. She “turned the heat off and the music down.” He was safely placed in her monarch cage before she searched how to care for toads in captivity. Following instructions, she added a pan of sand and a bowl of water. The next morning he had dug down in the sand and covered himself with leaves. “K” put him in a dark cool part of house and he remains in hibernation. If he wakes, she will feed him. She hopes to keep him until spring and release him.
“K” did what she could do. She truly is a shaman. I sent her the toad totem meaning: Toads have always been ascribed supernatural powers and they are believed to have a special connection with invisible dark forces we people cannot understand.
Born at the beginning of the pandemic, she has spent her life without many of the things we had believed we needed to be happy.
But, at just 12 months old, “A” can wave and say bye-bye.
Her mother sent a video of her waving and saying bye-bye over and over! It was soooooo cute.
And then her mother asked if she wanted to say be happy. “A” smiled her biggest world-winning smile right into the camera and said clearly, “BE HAPPY!”
You can only imagine what gifts “A” will bring the world as she continues to grow…
We are not expected to do it all.
We are not expected to do it right.
We are invited to seek and find ways to serve and to be happy.
The surest way to do that is to just DO What YOU Can….
One of the women at Grief Journey yesterday said she reads everything she can about death. For her, this interest was triggered by the passing of her husband. This morning I received an email message about this book:
Another woman shared yesterday how her 99 and 1/2 year-old father is still wanting to delay talking about or preparing for his death. Just this past year she was able to get him to update his will. Her mother (who passed 30 years ago) was still listed as the beneficiary….
From the promotional listing about Living with Dying:
No matter how rich, well-connected, famous, intelligent, talented and compassionate a person may be, no one can avoid death. Yet how many of us believe death will happen to us? Or wonder what dying will be like? Or imagine what comes after death? Death is certain and inescapable, so wouldn’t it be sensible to at least inform ourselves about an event that we have no choice but to experience?
In Living Is Dying, Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse presents us with everything we need to face death calmly and confidently. Each stage of the dying process is described in detail, along with clear, practical advice about how to guide the dying through the bardos and into the next life. Rinpoche also addresses many common questions, such as: How honest should we be with the dying? How should we talk about death to someone who has no spiritual beliefs? How do we help someone who is already dead?
Regardless of your spiritual preferences and beliefs—or lack of them—if you are coming to terms with the imminent death of a loved one, your own death, or if you work with the dying, Living Is Dying will help prepare you to meet death consciously, soberly and with a mind full of compassion.
My new mantra: “May all beings prepare to meet death consciously, soberly, and with a mind full of compassion.” This seems to guide us to a life of compassion.
Sacred Stories
She saw a friend’s Facebook post about his dog, Bassie, passing.
She has several favorite quotations about dog’s passing, and she most often shares a very special one from The Dharma of Dogs, but she sent this one:
You might recall what it’s like to be with someone who has grieved deeply. The person has no layer of protection, nothing left to defend. The mystery is looking out through that person’s eyes. For the time being, he or she has accepted the reality of loss and has stopped clinging to the past or grasping at the future. In the groundless openness of sorrow, there is a wholeness of presence and a deep natural wisdom.
~ Tara Brach, True Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart
Her friend responded:
Thank you, this is how I experience it now. Very special things are happening in my life right now. The great contact is becoming more and more noticeable. It is a special time for me.
And my dog, who is my soulmate, is called Sioux.
~ Daily Om
I have been obsessed with taking photos of the sky again.
This morning I was text-chatting about the changing nature of skies with my brother-in-love, Larry, who is a very skillful photographer / gifted artist. A powerful scene from the film, “The Last Samurai,” came to mind and I was able to find a clip I have long held in my mind and heart. I watched it a few times. I find it quite compelling.
While not historically true, this story of an American military officer who is hired by the Emperor of Japan to train the country’s first army in the act of modern warfare is worthy of noting:
As the government attempts to eradicate the ancient Samurai warrior class in preparation for more Westernized and trade-friendly policies, Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) finds himself unexpectedly affected by his encounters with the Samurai, which places him at the center of a struggle between two eras and two worlds.
Early on, Katsumoto (the samurai) tells Algren, “The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You can spend your life looking for one and it will not be a wasted life…”
True also about skies….
Like Katsumoto humans have found ourselves at the center of a struggle between two eras and two worlds.
With his dying breath Katsumoto discovered the truth:
Why wait to know that truth?
We know that we can handle challenges
that seemed insurmountable when we began our journey,
and there is the feeling that
we might be ready to take on a new problem,
or some new aspect of the old problem.
We feel empowered and courageous
to have taken on the challenge
of stopping a pattern,
releasing a habit,
or overcoming a fear,
and to have succeeded.
“Bhutan’s approach as a Buddhist country,
a country that values Gross National Happiness,
is different from a typical technocratic approach.”
~ Tenzing Lamsang,
an investigative journalist and editor of The Bhutanese
Those who know me well are well aware I rarely read news. Today, I was drawn to read the article about Bhutan’s experience of the pandemic.
Read the entire article here: How did a tiny, poor nation manage to suffer only one death from the coronavirus?
While many points in the article moved me near tears, the most uplifting aspect of the article is that it gives my mind a space of hope. I have had many conversations about the need for a new model of leadership in the world.
Could this tiny country be a demonstration of what is possible?
Lets look closely at each aspect for what we can learn and apply.
First, hope that you are lucky and your country’s leaders are thoroughly engaged. Bhutan had trusted, smart, and hands-on direction from its king, whose moral authority carries great weight.
Second, invest in preparedness…. Bhutan’s health ministry staged a simulation at the country’s international airport. The scenario: a passenger arriving from abroad with a suspected infection caused by a new strain of coronavirus. All these measures reflect what Bitton sees as a dynamic, system-wide self-awareness. “You could call it humility; you could call it curiosity,” he said. “It’s this idea of, wow, we have a lot to learn.”
Third, act fast and buy time…. Bhutan’s system of community-based primary care had sowed the concept of prevention, and its free universal health care and testing meant that logistics and supply chains were already in place.
Fourth, draw on existing strengths. (They shifted workers from one segment to another as needed, and provided additional training where necessary.)
Finally, make it possible for people to actually follow public-health guidance by providing economic and social support to those who need to quarantine or isolate. Nuzzo calls these “wraparound services.”
First and foremost, we must understand ourselves: when humans are naive to the thought viruses that infect individuals, communities, and species, we are very vulnerable.
Whatever it might take, it is time for US (ambiguity intentional) to adopt a higher standard of collective being. If you are not familiar with the polyvagal theory of happiness and well-being, please enlighten yourselves. Creativity, productivity, respect, kindness, wisdom — all the virtues of a healthy relating — are needed for us to reach the other shore.
Sitting
gazing longingly
across the surface
of the water at the “other” shore
Breathing
releasing contractions
throughout the body
all caused by distortions in the mind
Feeling
wholly spacious
emotions rise, fall
denying nothing and at ease
Hearing
birds sing
birds’ songs dance in the air
the air, joyful, joins the movement
Thinking
memories float
some pleasant, some not
illusions seen now for what they are
Debra Basham
February 11, 2021
Note* This poem is about the five aggregates of self: form (or material image, impression) (rupa), sensations (or feelings, received from form) (vedana), perceptions (samjna), mental activity or formations (sankhara), and consciousness (vijnana)
Note* Check out How to Use the Polyvagal Ladder.
~ Dr. William Edwards Deming
Deming was an American engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant.
Deming undoubtedly would understand the best of Bhutan….