Wednesday 21 November 2007

Rose Heroic Lives!

Wednesday 10:30 p.m.
The world is full of people who are much better people than me; people living lives of quiet heroism, like my friend whose wife is quite far down the road with Multiple Sclerosis. The world is full of them. Folk like my auld maw who was widowed in her mid-forties and left with two young adolescents, a pre-adolescent, and my sister who couldn't do anything for herself. There are people out there who don't complain and just get on with what they're supposed to do.

And here is moi, part of the generation - some of whom like me hardly worked and never wanted, who ate the planet, who never had to go to war with anyone, etc., etc., etc. It's almost embarrassing that someone like me has come to be 56 years old, experienced not a great amount of personal tragedy or even much disappointment, and I can put my mind into states of amazing bliss.

You can see why folk want to believe in rebirth, reincarnation, or whatever, because this life does not seem to be fair.

Trying to understand and then realise non-self and emptiness, or even just engaging in calming meditations should even the score a little, but almost nobody knows about buddhist philosophy and almost nobody meditates. Oh well!

The flatheids don't know they're flatheids. They think they're alright and I suppose they are. They're not going to fall apart and go about moaning and groaning to me when they get the black spot. They'll just do the usual denial, anger, acceptance, blah blah, and shuffle off their mortal coil they way they do.

I have been given a fantastic opportunity in this life. An unbelievable opportunity. For this I must thank the folk who took an interest in me a few years ago when I was regularly going down to the Samye Ling. I wasn't going to courses or really talking much to anyone. I used to go and meditate. If I had the money, I'd been down there meditating yet every time I had a holiday. But there are some special people down there and they did notice me, and they did help me, and they are helping me even as I write this.

All I've got to do is try hard, at least over the next few days. I've got to stay off the beer, the dope, the tobacco, in fact, pursue purification and accumulation. And stay away from my deep, dear friends because they are all flatheids and sweetie eaters, and they will never get ra bliss.

I'm on antibiotics. I get a tooth pulled on Friday morning. But tomorrow is all mine. Tomorrow belongs to me!

8 comments:

rob said...

Not much disappointment? Amazing what holy water can do! That's where I went wrong.

Anonymous said...

I think all people live in a place of quiet heroism, even the flatheids.

Sometimes I have people tell me how strong I am and what a good example I am. Especially when I was so sick last year. But I will admit I tend to look at them and say "I have no choice but to deal."

We all deal every moment of our lives, we deal with the world. But most of all we have to deal with our selves. Learning to control our passions, our laziness and our fears.

Life isn't fair. It isn't suppose to be. We each have different lessons to learn. Personally sometimes I find the idea of rebirth fairly discouraging. I don't want to be physical again.

But that doesn't mean I still don't have things to learn.

I'm very glad you found your way to bliss. But as I see buddhism it is about dealing with your own self, your own demons. It isn't about getting the flatheids to mediate. It is about getting yourself straight in your own head.

I believe it is important to me to live the choices I make. To accept responsibility for my own feelings and behaviors. To love unconditionally even those that are lost from my point of view.

I hope you have a wonderful day of bliss.

Hotboy said...

Albert? What? Don't tell me you're using holy water for the irrigations now! Dearie me! Anyway, I suppose I was disappointed in not becoming a better writer than Hemingway, but stuff like that doesn't count. If you can't put your mind into ra bliss, obviously your life has been a complete waste of time. Hotboy
Marie-Rex: I think I should really go into a long retreat and stay there until I find flatheids funny. It does bug me that people I know don't meditate. Or rather, it's the self-clinging that bugs me; the stupidity. Not that I don't have it as well! It's just gone eleven in the morning. I come in here to the computer to have breakfast, but I meditated for about an hour and twenty minutes before I got out of bed, and I know the meditations today will be wonderful. I find the idea of rebirth discouraging as well. Nothing puts me off existence more than old, dumb flatheids! That's partly why my attitude stinks. But it's hard to meet flatheids on your own terms. Flatheids flatten my heid! But not today! Oh no, not today! Anyway, everyone should get out of buddhism what they can. I cherry pick.

Anonymous said...

"the stupidity. Not that I don't have it as well!"

Great minds including Freud and Doctor Robert have noted the human tendency to deplore in others what they can't stand in themselves.

Facing that could help.

Hotboy said...

Ivor the Tank Engine! That quote isn't from this post. Have you been on the jungle juice again? Hotboy

onan the bavarian said...

It's from your comment on this post, actually. Do I have to quote your whole comment back to you? This postmodernism gone mad might actually impress the agents.

"Albert? What? Don't tell me you're using holy water for the irrigations now! Dearie me! Anyway, I suppose I was disappointed in not becoming a better writer than Hemingway, but stuff like that doesn't count. If you can't put your mind into ra bliss, obviously your life has been a complete waste of time. Hotboy
Marie-Rex: I think I should really go into a long retreat and stay there until I find flatheids funny. It does bug me that people I know don't meditate. Or rather, it's the self-clinging that bugs me; the stupidity. Not that I don't have it as well! It's just gone eleven in the morning. I come in here to the computer to have breakfast, but I meditated for about an hour and twenty minutes before I got out of bed, and I know the meditations today will be wonderful. I find the idea of rebirth discouraging as well. Nothing puts me off existence more than old, dumb flatheids! That's partly why my attitude stinks. But it's hard to meet flatheids on your own terms. Flatheids flatten my heid! But not today! Oh no, not today! Anyway, everyone should get out of buddhism what they can. I cherry pick."

Hotboy said...

Albert? The stuff about the thing you hate in yourself was rather smart on reconsideration. Do I owe Dr Rob some money now? Hotboy

rob said...

I believe he'd accept 10% off the top.