After Enlightenment, Then Laundry

In the world of buddhism, there's a saying that states, "after enlightenment, the laundry." 

It’s a reminder that the journey toward clarity and inner peace doesn’t end with a single moment. 

Instead of being an endpoint, it is just the beginning, continuing into everyday life and encompassing the quiet, repetitive tasks that anchor us all.

When we aim for a minimalist, nature-connected existence, it’s easy to think we’re aiming for perfection: a life free from mess, complication, and distraction.

But true simplicity isn’t about escaping life’s tasks; it’s about seeing them differently. 

After all, the laundry, the dishes, the sweeping - whatever chores fill our days -won't disappear simply because we’ve cultivated a peaceful mindset. What changes is the way we approach them.

When I wash clothes I don't see it as a mundane job to “get done” but as an opportunity, a ritual, a moment to practice mindfulness. 

I feel the texture of the fabric, the coolness of water, and the joy of going outside to hang clean clothes on the line while visiting with the blue jays and juncos in the trees around me. 

When it is done, I appreciate the simplicity of clean, folded piles of cloth. Every step in this process is an invitation for me to stay present, and finding meaning in the mundane.

First enlightenment, then laundry reminds us that peace doesn’t reside only in moments of meditation and stillness. 

True peace lives in carrying out each small daily task gently, grace. 

So, as we seek simplicity, let’s find enlightenment in each chore, embracing the little moments that connect us to ourselves and our world.

Then we see that perhaps the enlightenment has been there all along, waiting for us to let go and take notice.

The Darkest of Days

It is late Fall. The days continue to grow darker for about another month.

The leaves have turned, and fallen, and a lightless, cold chill is descending upon the land.

It seems to be affecting me more this year than ever before. I have been dreading it in every bone of my aging body.

Part of the reason, even more than aging, is that the global situation is mirroring this dismal time of year, making the outlook even more bleak.

A similar dark cold hand has taken hold globally, and there is no protective coat warm enough to halt the chill of societal and governmental breakdown.

As a result, the darkness and despair of war and destruction is seeping in regardless of where one lives.

 

It is not a pretty picture to witness the lawlessness and horrors perpetrated or allowed by not only my own country, but all of the West.

Are our hearts frozen with indifference? 

Those who speak out are finding that we essentially don't live in democracies any more, and are getting fired, cancelled, and jailed for their efforts.

The ones in charge aren't representing voters any longer, making one wonder who they are representing.

That realization will freeze the warmest of souls. 

Depression and despair smothers us with a heavy blanket of death and decay.

As the days darken, literally and figuratively, the need to commune with nature is even more important.

Why? Because nature rejuvenates. 

From nature we have come, and to nature we will return in the end. We ignore this connection at our peril.

Shorter days and colder temperatures invite us to slow down, take a break from the madness, and think about the abundant gifts of nature.

For me, being in nature is the core of my very being, my source of my very life. I immerse my senses in my sanctuary, the woods, and I love what it does for me.

How else would I survive till the return of light in the spring?

Dark days are never permanent, and that is the hopeful message that the cycles of nature brings.

Brighter days await in both nature, and the affairs of humanity. The light always finds a way to burn away the darkness in a glory of warmth and cleansing. 

That is what is keeping me going on these darkest of days.

Peace, love, and light to all my brothers and sisters around the globe.

Happy Crappy Consumer Christmas?

People feel they have to do this...

Because crass consumer capitalists smelling an opportunity for profit turned this...

Into this...

And then this...

Resulting in this:

Buried under that pile of consumerism is the true spirit of Christmas, and along with it all memories of where it all began - a pagan celebration of Winter Solstice, the day the light begins to return to the world.

Happy Whatever You Celebrate This Time Of Year.

Hopefully it isn't Crappy Consumer Christmas, but instead a more meaningful celebration of love and light. 

This is what the human family has always done at this time of the year. 

The darkest days have passed, and together in compassion and solidarity we have made it through another year together.

The light returns! 

Love to all.

Have No Fear

Living fearlessly is a little slice of heaven.

The Indian spiritual teacher Swami Vivekananda said,  

”The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. 

Never fear what will become of you, 

depend on no one. 

Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.”

Consumerism needs us to survive. It spends upwards of 1 trillion dollars every year to influence our minds. 

Much of that is to make us fearful. 

The rest is to make us feel inadequate.

Healthy fear is productive. It keeps us alive.

Manufactured fear is corrosive. 

Being afraid of getting in a car accident is helpful. The caution it provides may keep you and others alive.

Being afraid that our clothes are not the latest fashion, or that our house isn't big enough, or car new enough, is corrosive. It make us do things we normally would not.

The only thing the system fears is fearless non-conformist, post-consumers living contented simple lives.

We do not depend on consumer culture to validate us, and refuse to connect our worthiness to how much of their stuff we buy, or how hard we work for them.

We do not need consumer culture's help, and therefore do not need to fear letting it all go. 

Someone benefits from all the manufactured fear, and it is not the regular person. That is why fear has been a popular tool of state power since the beginning of state power - to keep the regular person in an exploitable state of bondage.

Consumerism offers only chains, while the Universe offers freedom. 

That is why we never have to worry or be afraid when we boldly go where our hearts lead us. The gods may laugh at our plans, but the Universe smiles.

The moment you reject the fear that emanates endlessly from the cult of consumerism, you are freed. 

It is a little slice of heaven.

 

2019 Was Interesting - I Hope 2020 Isn't

My back yard will soon see the Sun rising on a new year and a new decade.

2019 is coming to a close. It was interesting.

Interesting as in “May you live in interesting times”. 

I always thought that quote was of Chinese origin. Turns out it’s not.

In 1836 a British diplomat named John Francis Davis referred to a similar adage which circulated in China. 

He wrote,

“Better be a dog in peace than a man in war,” is a common maxim.  

“It is a general rule,” they say, “that the worst of men are fondest of change and commotion, hoping that they may thereby benefit themselves.  

But by adherence to a steady, quiet system, affairs proceed without confusion, and bad men have nothing to gain.”

The best evidence shows it was a Brit riffing off the Chinese maxim that coined the “Interesting times” quote that was meant as a curse.  

In that way, 2020 is likely to be just as interesting as this year was. Maybe more interesting.

It makes one hanker for less interesting times. 

However, society is so jacked up on fear, technology, and adrenalin that people are hooked on the stuff. It might be hard to quit. As a friend of mine asked once, "Wouldn't most people find enlightenment boring?" 

Not me. I am ready for a new year that is blissfully quiet, plain, and uninteresting. Let’s stretch and yawn, then proceed with clarity and calm to resolve our differences and common challenges.

When the time is right, let's lay out the mats and nap for a while. 

Preferably we can proceed in peace, without all the thrilling and ego-stimulating dramas that drive popular narratives. It is better to do nothing than a wasteful thing.

In the next 365 days we can collectively create a new story. We can work toward the development of alternative approaches to life that allow us to realize health, tranquility, and spiritual liberation.

Steady as she goes, I say. Don't over think things. Do everything by doing nothing. It's Nature's way.

Go ahead, 2020 - bore me to tears with your steady, unstimulating, ordinary, garden variety evolution guiding us toward a better world. 

In Winter Enjoy

Sun's rays hitting Mughenge in my kitchen, about an hour before sunset.

"In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy."

"Where man is not nature is barren."

- William Blake (1757-1827)

En-laughter-ment

Warning: consumerism will not lead to enlightenment.

I am having a bit of a Zen moment lately here on NBA. My last post on Zen Kitties elicited this response from Sophie:

"I wish I had read this wonderful post BEFORE I cleaned the cats' litter box! This gave me a much-needed laugh today."

Reading Sophie's comment led me to think more about Zen and laughter.

Often Linda gives me cause to spontaneously erupt in a belly laugh. She is a very witty person with a wicked sense of humour, one reason I love her so. She is my laughter guru.

In these moments it feels like a window on the Infinite has been thrown open. A brief moment of enlightenment, ala Sosan, the third Chinese patriarch of Zen. He would "awaken" his students with unexpected loud noises, but it seems to me that anything jarring that surprises you could put one in a receptive state.

For me, that is stealth humour where I am caught unaware, and am laughing joyously before I even know I am laughing. In that space I am grounded, centred and present.

In that moment I am one with Linda, with humour, with my environment, and with a very delightful (and often funny) Universe. Even if only for a brief moment, it feels wonderful with all barriers and separations dissolved.

I hope this blog can keep Sophie, and all NBA readers, laughing from time to time with zingers that come out of nowhere.

Clang! There it is - en-laughter-ment.

Other things that I have found that lead me to moments of clarity include the practices of: love, compassion, humility, forgiveness, making music, helping others, and living simply. I wish to share those here as well.

And all the while laughter, as we progress together. Ha, ha, ha. Ho, ho, ho. Hee, hee, hee. You can not possibly have too much laughter.