Unbending the Hook

L-hook (foreground) and ?-hook (background) They used to be identical.

I'm fascinated by the bent hook that the bird feeder used to hang on. It used to be a question mark, and now it's an L. Wow! It takes a lot of power to straighten out one of those hooks. I've tried manipulating them with pliers and been frustrated.

All the bear had to do was hang on the bird feeder. Amazingly, it's hanger held (though bent from a C to a /\. And the ?-hook bent like butter. That bear has super-human strength. And it is hungry. Really hungry.

Would that our own "hooks" could be unbent so easily.

Which of the main 3 hooks is your biggest? (We all have all of them, so don't worry. You'll get to work on the others later.)

Greedy--desire for the pleasant--for stuff or for pleasant states of mind.
Aversive--pushing away the unpleasant--perhaps critical, impatient, or irritable
Delusional--confused or wishy-washy

Then relax. And practice loving-kindness toward yourself.


Read pages 77-79 of The Meditative Gardener for a fun quiz to figure this out.
Here's an example:

G I always store my trowel in the same place.
A I leave my trowel lying around.
D Hmmm. I don’t remember where I left my trowel.
G My tools are organized.
A My tools are in a jumble.
D Tools?
G My tools are color-coordinated.
G My garden gloves are color-coordinated with my garden boots (or
garden clogs).
A I never wear gloves.
D I can’t find my gloves.

Cleaning Up

As i mentioned yesterday, i have too much lead, one of the earth's elements, in my body. Really, due to our industrial society, we probably all have some sort of body burden--an excess of some element or other in our bodies.

Chelation is the method of removing heavy metals from the body. I'm using green clay, another earth element, to chelate the lead, to draw it out of the body.

Green clay looks like powdered wasabi; just add water and smear it onto the body. In this way, eventually, the body can be purified of the toxic elements.

Our minds, too, can be purified of toxins by practicing qualities of kindness, compassion, joy, generosity, and the cure-all, patience.

Choose your poison. I'm sure you already know your very familiar poisoner of the mind--a grudge, impatience, anger, wishy-washiness, greed.
Then choose the antidote. (Message me if you need some help with this.)

Let's clean up our act. Clean up our body, but even more importantly, clean up our mind.

Amaryllis Patience

An amaryllis is blooming in my solarium. I bought this pot of 2 bulbs at a library plant sale. I've been watering their strappy green leaves for almost 2 years, and finally! Flowers!

Sometimes we feel like even though we consistently water our meditation practice, nothing is happening.

Patience, my dear friend.
Patience with your meditation.
Patience with your nearest and dearest.
Patience with your aging parents and with your co-workers.

Patience is one of the 10 supreme qualities (paramis or paramitas) that we practice, practice, practice. After all, practice makes perfect.

Patience is an antidote to irritation.
"Count to 10," your mother said.
Nowadays, you might count 10 breaths before you respond.

Patience is an antidote to desire.
Watch desire arise in the mind. Feel "I want" in your body.
Notice that it passes.
Even if the same desire re-posts itself in your mind 1/2 second later.

Patience is an antidote to confusion.
You don't actually need to know the answer to the question right this minute (although you may want the answer right now).
Feel confusion in your body.
Watch the ripples of confusion in your mind.

Patience is a remedy that cures many ills, many dis-eases of the mind.

Patience, my dear.
It has taken the amaryllis 2 years to bloom.