18.9.11

A Rare update

There have been too many unwritten blog posts since my last one. I find myself constructing posts in my head but by the time I have time and a keyboard in front of me, it's gone from thought. For those that still read, thank you for bearing with me for the last couple of years. They have been challenging on a number of different levels. And a number of those I am not at liberty to talk about, and some that I am just not comfortable talking about, and quite a bit that has passed by without comment because I haven't had/made the time to write it down. But the wheel keeps turning.

I turned 38 last month. Someone who did not identify themselves sent me a copy of Old Teacher Uchiyama's "Opening the hand of thought" for the kindle, thank you whoever you are. This means that my print copy is now available for anyone who will respect it and promise to pass it along to the next person when they no longer feel a need for it.

It's also September now, so I will be leaving on the Fall Patrol with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit soon. You can find the 31st on facebook and the Public Affairs guys do a good job keeping folks informed of the comings and goings of the MEU.

I have not dropped my retirement papers yet. As I understand it I have to stay until I finish my Okinawa tour.

I've dropped most of the ritual from my practice. It was so important to me once. But now mostly I just sit, usually only a half hour to an hour in the mornings. Evening practice is usually neglected lately in favor of spending that precious time with the family. I make up for this at sea, where practice has its own set of interesting challenges.

Lunch time is over, Forgive formatting as this is an e-mailed post and blogger sometimes does strange things with them.

1 comment:

Uku said...

Hi Jordan,

nice to read what's going up over there, also in your personal practice! I don't see your post as a "rare update". Blogging is like life: it comes and goes, everything changes. I haven't been able to update my blog either, or to be precise, not felt important to update it. Today I'm gonna update it anyway.

Regarding the changes in your Buddhist practice, I think these Victor Hugo's words will fit perfectly in here:

"Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots."

Hahhaa! All the best over there, keep up the good work, my brother in Dharma!

Thanks for looking!