Letting Hate Be

I've received a couple of pieces of hate mail recently. Ouch! That hurts!

The mind wants to get going on a story and all sorts of rebuttals about the other person's point of view. I hate to be blamed. Yet blame is inevitable. Someone will not see things the way i see them. Someone will lash out. This is life. I much prefer praise, but you can't have one (praise) without the other (blame).

So where do i find happiness despite the outer conditions of ugly letters? I've been practicing forgiveness, toward myself, first of all. I forgive myself for not understanding this situation before i got into it.

I seek refuge in the Dharma--in patience and kindness, toward myself first of all.

And i notice the pain of remembering the letters. Can i just sink into that pain and watch it release?

The sender of the hate mail is living in a mental hell realm. By creating their own false story and then sticking to it, i can practically see the narrowed mind, the mind closed to relationship and to additional facts.

Oh, well. My job is to let the story go. Let it be as it is. To sink into the truth of silence. And feel compassionate toward all the political people who are receiving much worse hate mail from more people.

Here's a verse from the Dhammapada:

Those who are contentious 

have forgotten that we all die;

for the wise, who reflect on this fact,

there are no quarrels.

Naked Gardening Day

Today is World Naked Gardening Day. Just you and your garden, together in the buff. No one other than the tulips and rhubarb needs to see you.

Naked Gardening Day is not about beautiful bodies. It could be about noticing that even beautiful bodies are not actually beautiful. The bag of skin holds muscles and bones together. Muscles look like meat, which is not particularly beautiful. And bones look like skeletons, which are not beautiful either.

The body serves us well for all these decades. If we take a close look, we might realize that our 70 percent water bodies are not different from the water out of the tap, in the hose, or in the birdbath. The air that passes into our nostrils and bodies is no different than the air that surrounds us. The "earth" element of our bodies--including calcium, phosphorus, and batches of trace minerals--are no different than the chemical elements around us.

So, why exactly, do we compare our body with anyone else's body? What's the point? Rather, compare your body to a river or to your garden, because all of our bodies are composed of the same material elements.

Be one with Nature, today!

Opinions About Rain

It's raining today. Raining steadily. The forecast for the coming week is cloudy and rainy. I'm hearing lots of complaints. We want Spring! We want May! We want blooming flowers. We want to be outdoors in the garden.

Do you notice how we resist the present moment? This wet present moment.

The rain may be unpleasant--it's chilly; it's wet; it's raw. Not liking it only adds to our suffering and increases our stress.

We don't need to have any opinion at all. Imagine that! It's raining. Period. No opinion. No judgment. Only the feeling of unpleasantness.

I gaze out the window with a cup of tea in my hand. Raindrops dying in quick succession.

Pleasing Combinations

This evening, Perennial Swappers come to tour my garden, and, i must say, it is spectacular. The early-season daffodils are fading, but the late-season daffodils are just now blooming. The yellow and white daffodils sit above various blue-blooming perennials--pulmonaria, brunnera, and forget-me-nots. Yellow and blue make a very pleasing-to-the-eye color combination.

What's the pleasing combination for our lives? What's the right mix of social life and solitude? What's the right mix of work and play? It's too easy for over-balancing one way or the other.

A mother of five recently came to me for meditation instruction. She said she gave up a lot of friendships in order to have children. And as a career mother, she's not quite sure where meditation might fit in her life, though she's sure it would be good for her health and for the stress in her life.

Sometimes, it's time to restructure our lives--or our gardens--for the most pleasing combination of solitude.

Rainbow Garden

I try to arrange May so that i am out in the garden for several hours each day. I love the days when i stay home all day, even though this sometimes means playing hookey from various meetings and exercise classes. I rationalize it by assuming that walking for six hours in the garden, back and forth, must add up to a few miles. Gardening is as good as exercise, isn't it? Plus, gardening is so calming.

Yesterday's day in the garden ended with a sprinkle of rain while the sun was shining. That meant a double rainbow in the east.

The rainbow reminds me that my self and my garden are as real as a rainbow. Here today. Gone tomorrow. But, oh so beautiful right now.

Dividing Daffodils

My grandmother died 30 years ago, and, in her will, she gave each grandchild $600. I spent my entire inheritance on daffodil bulbs, so that, every year, on her birthday in early May, i can remember my Nonnie.

This year, i am really focusing on dividing clumps of bulbs and giving away my extras. I'm passing on my grandmother's legacy of spring flowers.

Joy in the blooming. Joy in the memory of my grandmother. Joy in the giving of flower bulbs.

Dancing in the May

This morning, before dawn, i walked to the top of a local mountain where Morris Dancers were dancing in the month of May. The dancers wear bells on their shins, have sticks to tap the ground, and lots of ribbons on their shirts. These English folk dances feel like a great way to welcome in the May.

For late risers, the men's team and the women's team danced again in the parking lot of the Town Hall at 6:45 a.m.

We take time to ceremonially welcome in a change of season--in this case, the month of May. Even though everything is impermanent, everything is in constant and continual change, we pause for a moment to welcome spring.