3.8.09

GREAT AND NOBLE




(E-mail post, please forgive formatting issues)

Set the alarm for 0430 this morning after deciding last week that I needed
to get back into the old routine.
When it went off I decided that Monday was a bad day to start that off and
reset it for 0530.

Wrapped myself in a newly made Kesa prior to sitting this morning.
I totally botched the measurements and it is about half a meter too wide.
My End gaining and not paying attention to the means whereby exposed.

Non-listening to a Dharma talk podcast on the way to work this morning I had
this thought, "What can I do to serve the Buddha, Dharma, And Sangha today?"

At least I fed the cat.
I suppose it is often just like that.
Helen Keller once said:

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to
accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble."

She was a person who I imagine had to pay great care to the means whereby.

Lots of bodily tension lately. The cause is pretty obvious. I have orders
and I am totally unprepared for them.
And the amount of stuff "to do" is monumental.

Chip, chip, chip away. What will I do today?

Hard to rest in what is with the knowledge that it soon wont be.
Maybe that's the truth of impermanence.

Shaving the head again and again, these bonds of attachment are hard to cut.

11 comments:

Uku said...

Congratulations for your new kesa, Dharmabro! Maybe you'll post some pictures in some point?

Shaving the head again and again, these bonds of attachment are hard to cut.

My wife bought new shaving foam (not gel) for me today and by using it, shaving my head is a really pleasant task to do. No more aching, no more itching. Man, why practicing zazen can't be like this. Why this is called practice... oh why, oh why.

"What can I do to serve the Buddha, Dharma, And Sangha today?"At least I fed the cat.
I suppose it is often just like that.


Gassho!

oxeye said...

Jordan, Great Helen Keller quote. I hadn't heard it before.

Keep chipping away. I wish I had some wisdom for you, But as usual you provided it for me. Thanks

SlowZen said...

Thanks Uku, I'm still thinking about working on it some more, maybe next weekend. we shall see.

You might want to check out:

http://www.headblade.com/

Enjoy!


Jeff,

As always, thanks for the encouraging words.

Unknown said...

Good job on finishing your Kesa and yes please do share some pics! Im pretty sure most of my stuff is botched in some fashion ;)

Thank you for all that you do! Your posts and presence provide a great service here.

Gassho

SlowZen said...

Dirk,
OK I added some photos, the one on the over sized couch may give some idea of of the size. I could probably cut it down by two stripes to make it fit properly...

Thanks for the kind words.

with gratitude
Jordan

Uku said...

Thanks for the pictures! Is there any story related to the colour you chose?

SlowZen said...

Uku,
Yeah, I like green, and in the right light it matches my blog. (orche)

MyoChi said...

Wow!! You made a kesa!! That is not an easy job. I can relate to the monumental amount of things to do (like right now, up at 5 AM to do things), every now and then I am in panic mode over not being able to do things. When I am mindul (which is not often), I ask myself - so what if I dont get things done? Will sky fall? It helps me to rest a little..

yuri said...

VAC

Late evening med
Then some sleep...
Early morning med
Then more and longer sleep...
What day, month, year is it?
Three more weeks of ignorance...

oxeye said...

Hi Jordan, Just saw this. Wondering if it will affect you.

SlowZen said...

MyoChi,
Thanks, I made a clean spot on my desk today! then covered it back up again with the next project...

Yuri,
Yeah sometimes it's like that.

Jeff,
It already has. The Marine Corps Network Operations Center blocked most social networking sites a while ago, now they just block them as they pop up. But I can still e-mail posts in and Check FB and Twitter from my phone. This will be harder to do when I go to my next duty station though. The things I write about don't violate OPSEC so I shouldn't have any of the network goons after me. Yhaks for the concern. But yeah that is why I dont comment much on other blogs anymore. I can't surf during my lunch break! But I do usually get some extra chairzen in during that free time now, so it's a win!

Thanks for looking!