Cool quote

A cool quote for being present:   There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.

— Dalai Lama

First things first...

So, for anyone in a similar situation to mine (gearing up for self improvement via the 8 fold path).  Here is my advice.  Begin by setting your stuff in order.  By that, I mean your things...  be it your home, office, vehicle... any place that you spend time regularly, put it in order (a place for everything and everything in it's place).  Doing so will give you one less distraction in the hunt for mindfulness.  This is especially important wherever you meditate...  cluttered, dirty, or otherwise messy environments do have an unsettling effect on the mind... considering there are so many other sources for mental distress... do yourself a favor and head this one off at the pass.  Your meditation practice will thank you for it.  Additionally, if your struggling with intoxicants (as I am), ridding yourself of them is highly advisable.  Store the lighters and glasses away, empty the bottles, put it all out of sight, out of mind.  I've also began a shrine (my girlfriend was an awesome help here, giving me a Buddha statue and incense holder for xmas)... I've got it set up directly in front of where I meditate.  Now, not to derail the Dhamma talk with household stuff... but in addition to focusing on mindfulness, I'm going to be making great strides towards health as well.  A healthy body facilitates a clear mind... and my biggest issue is what I put in my body (far too much fast/unhealthy food)... so I'm cleaning up my diet and beginning an exercise program.  All of this is in an effort to lay the foundation for mindfulness... set myself up for success and whatnot.

Well, that's it for now... 'til next time.

Big Time Metta,

UA

Fairweather friends (and new year's resolutions)

Well... this blog and I.  Or maybe it's "bad weather friends".  Regardless, I haven't approached it with the consistency originally intended...  but thankfully, it's here for me when I need it.  Now is one of those times, with the year wrapping up, and a new one approaching... I find myself reflecting on where I am, and where I want to be.  This year, at least from a "spiritual" perspective, I can't say that I'm all that pleased with the results of that assessment.  The biggest culprit being my use of intoxicants... which could be easily reigned in were I to establish and uphold a regular meditation practice.  Long story short, I'm seeing a great need for that in my life (and the resulting mindfulness).  I know resolutions will be coming out of the woodwork the next few days... so I'm going to jump on that bandwagon and resolve to meditate for at least 15min daily for 2014.  I encourage any and all of my readers to do the same, as it will undoubtedly benefit us all positively.

Well that's it for now.

Maha Metta,

UA

Sooo....

I've reviewed my blog posts... and I see a whole lotta "I'm gonna do this or that" which never came to fruition.  In the interest of keeping this blog true to it's purpose, and Buddhism in general... I'm going to shift my writing (from future) to the present...  at least to the best of my ability.  I'm thinking this will mean smaller more frequent posts.  But we'll see how it goes.  What's going on in the present... like now?  Well, as of this morning I've began a concerted effort on keeping the 5th (no not amendment, but precept) which has to do with abstaining from intoxicants.  One of the reasons you haven't seen many updates is because I haven't kept this precept well (smoking and drinking), and sadly a lack of effort on upholding a precept means your practice falters (or in my case fades completely).  I'm not going to predict what tomorrow holds for this venture...  but I will say that as of right now, I'm doing well (if not exceptional) with it *grins*

Big time Metta!  UA

Self-guided weekend "retreat'?

Well, haven't said much lately... because there hasn't been much to report on this front.  A little too consumed with this or that "distraction" to devote the requisite effort to my practice.  The saving grace, is that such indiscretion (like all things) must come to an end.  It will always culminate, and one way or another... you'll notice it's time to get back to your practice (or at least I do...).  Usually it's something painful (a death of a loved one, a particularly unenlightened action on your part--read: regret), but then again sometimes its just that ever-present nagging feeling that something is "off", a feeling of disconnect...  that's where I'm at today.  So I've decided to take an "entertainment fast" this weekend.  Basically abstaining from TV, Movies, Games, frivolous reading...  in favor of more time on the meditation cushion, and studying the Dhamma.  Kind of like a mini-mindfulness retreat of sorts.  Not quite taking it to the 10 precept/novice ordination point (read: I can't easily avoid eating after noon, and diddling my little lady *grins*), but I'll strictly adhere to the 5 precepts, and maybe a few more (i.e. high beds, beatification would be easy... as I'm a dude... and I sleep on a futon).  So call it an 6-8 precept weekend *grins*.  As in:

Refrain from killing living things.

Refrain from stealing.

Refrain from unchastity (sensuality, sexuality, lust).

Refrain from lying/incorrect speech.

Refrain from taking intoxicants.

Refrain from taking food at inappropriate times (after noon).

Refrain from singing, dancing, playing music or attending entertainment programs (performances).

Refrain from wearing perfume, cosmetics and garland (decorative accessories).

Refrain from sitting on high chairs and sleeping on luxurious, soft beds. 

Refrain from accepting money? (well I won't be taking any, but certainly can't avoid spending it)

Anyway, there are several reasons I'm doing this.  One, I've been "chasing the dragon" so to speak in regards to intoxicants (drinking/smoking), I've had little discipline with my diet or exercise plans (fast food, blowing off the weights)... I've been too consumed with self gratification in general (tv/movies/games, getting tore down) and it's just not doing me any service.  It's been my experience that a little mindfulness will go a long way to solving such problems, bringing ones life into perspective and what not...  add focus, and a sense of well being.  Both of which I could certainly use a heaping helping of these days.  With any luck... I'll come out of this a little more "connected" with my family, a little more focused on what's important, and just a little bit better person all around...  well that's the goal anyway :P

Expect updates.... Bigtime Metta UA

Ahhh.... compassion--Alternative Title: Buddhist Fly "Swatting" meets parenting

So, outside my townhome are two massive bushes.  I'm not sure of the species, but it's one nature obviously intended to be pollinated by flies.  Hundreds, if not thousands of common house flies swarm these bushes... and recently, the swarm has began migrating into our home.  Last night, the swarm approached 2 dozen.  This presented quite the problem... because for all the precepts I uphold, the first (abstaining from killing) is likely the easiest.  So I devised a plan to evict our unwanted guests... which consisted of a red solo cup, and a very thin/cheap plastic cutting board.  I shooed the flies out of the bedrooms/bathroom (read: corralled them into the main living/dining area)...  turned off the lights, opened the blinds (so as to attract them to the windows).  With the setting sun glaring in, they did just as I hoped and began bouncing off the windows.  I proceeded to trap them (one by one) between my cup and the window... sliding that cutting board under to keep them trapped as I relocated them outside.  I did inadvertently lose (read: squash) two or three early in process (regrettably), but once I mastered the technique, I did save a good 20, which were successfully evicted without harm... leaving our home, once again, free from unwanted guests.  I read online that flies are repelled by basil, so I affixed a few sprigs from my refrigerator to the door knocker (in hopes the indoor swarm will be less, hopefully nonexistent, tonight).  The entire process was less than 30 min effort on my part...  it gave me an opportunity to exercise some compassion... and send the little critters off with metta wishes.  Now, I never intended to write about this (until this morning).  You see, what prompted me to think of it... was getting my toddler in the car (which has been quite the stress factor of late).  Nearly three, and a tad behind developmentally (mainly speech), my toddler has been the poster-child for the "terrible two's" and more specifically tantrums.  One of the primary triggers for these tantrums, is getting in her car seat.  Virtually every morning I prepare for the emotional storm of getting her into that seat.  There is crying, kicking, screaming... she becomes completely unreasonable, and loses all self control.  While I can understand the aversion (a toddler wants to romp around/explore, and being strapped in for a 30 min car ride doesn't facilitate that), to call her reaction excessive would be an understatement... I mean based on her reaction, one would honestly believe, that that car seat meant certain death to her.  To make matters worse, she's recently learned how to unbuckle her safety belt.  You can imagine the safety (and even legal) concerns this would present...  and being met with the pressures of getting to work in a timely fashion,  I'm sad to say patience isn't always a viable option.  Long story short... to keep her in the car seat (and even get her in it to begin with), I've resulted to corporal intervention (read: paddling her pampers).  As a rule, violence is NOT an activity I would choose to engage in (doubly so with regards to my child)... but redirection, reason, distraction, even bribery... have all failed, and (at least at this point) I've yet to find an alternative that works.  The result, I end up forcing her into the seat, and swatting at her if/when she goes to unbuckle her seatbelt.  Now, I remain calm through this process (read: no danger of actually hurting her), but the act is inherently violent, I'm essentially controlling my child through fear and intimidation... which is undeniably wrong (read: bad kamma), but risking her safety (if she unbuckles her seatbelt), my parenting rights (for not legally transporting her), and my livelihood (not making it to work on time)... seem the greater harm in this case.  So, what does this have to do with flies you ask?  Well, it dawned on me, during this morning's toddler drama... that if I can quickly and easily come up with a non-violent solution for relocating a swarm of flies, why can't I come up with one for getting my child into her car seat?  So I'm reaching out to my readership... in hopes that one of you can offer some suggestions. I'll definitely be thinking about it myself, and I wish there was a passage in the tipitaka about this... but sadly, dealing with unreasonable, unruly toddlers isn't something the Buddha offered much advice on.   I'm certain there are parallels to be made... but I've yet to find such a resolution.  Maybe one of you can point me in the right direction?  Maha Metta UA

I'm baaaaack (obviously)

And considering how "off topic" the last two posts were, you can likely guess (and would be correct) UA's made no progress along the path.  That said, I have every intention of picking up where I left off... with the mediation, keeping precepts etc.  Please wish me luck!  Metta to you!  Upasaka Adam