Endings, beginnings, continuing’s . . .
It is the 17th day in March and the weather here in TulseyTown is downright frigid reminding us that March is the end of Winter as much as it is the beginning of Spring. In Freya's mailbox this Friday morning . . .
Today is the 422nd anniversary of the The first St. Patrick’s Day parade, held in a 1601 Spanish colony in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. The first such celebration in America occurred 286 years ago today with Boston's celebration in 1737.
64 years ago today in 1959, the Dalai Lama fled from the Tibetan capitol of Lhasa for India one week ahead of a Chinese military attack. The government in exile he set up in India remains vibrant as does his ongoing teaching and sharing his “religion of kindness.”
All languages suffer from the same disease: they are constructed symbol systems that refer to and treat all phenomena as “things.” The “thingness” of such systems constructs a world-view constituted of seemingly separate, disconnected parts. The impact of this wholly human undertaking is more than metaphorically staggering. This largely unconscious schizoid world-view has led us down an infinite rabbit-hole that contains an eco-armageddon of quite real possibility. Rhetoric is the patriarchal sword attempting to slice and dice even the nature of being into non-being. Language is dual, the universe is not.
Every waking moment we are creating art. Our lives are our art. Our words and actions weave the colorful fabric of creation. When we’re caught up in life and its many tasks and challenges, we may sometimes forget that it’s simply a miracle to be alive and that part of our existence as human beings means that we are inherent creators—telling our stories and giving our offerings to the world.-- from the introduction to “What is Zen” at Prajna Studios | Shambhala Publications online.
. . . if you want to make progress on the path and ascend to the places you have longed for, the important thing is not to think much but to love much, and so to do whatever best awakens you to love. – Teresa of Ávila, The Interior Castle, trans. Mirabai Starr