My thoughts for this blessed day

Blessed Be

I do hope that things are going well and the gods are smiling upon you all. I'm sorry that I have not been writing or posting as much as I use to do; But at all times my friends on PS were in my thoughts.

When you live in a cesspit of the mundane and so much negativity; it does not matter who you are or how strong you are. That negativity gets under the skin and you become as negative as those around you. This was showing up In my writings and as I made a promise to only spread positivity; I stopped writing to recharge my batteries.

Over the past weeks I have been working to finding quotes and condensing my own thoughts to just a few lines and placing them on to landscape pictures. These can be use as slide show on your PC when you are not using it. Please let me know what you think of them. If you would like to have the collection then send me an email at [email protected] with Inspirational messages in the title and I will send them as a zip file.

I finally made it to my buddhist retreat and found out how bad my hearing has become. I will admit that I was full of fear that with the pain in the legs the frequent trips to the loo; that I would be nothing but a disruption to the sense of order and calmness there.

My legs behaved themselves as did the other bodily functions except my hearing was most defiantly on holiday some where else. So their talks on Buddhism went frustratingly unheard until the Sunday when an amplifier and head phones was setup for my use.

I found that everything was done in such reverence and harmony that I could see myself staying there the rest of my life. At meal times there was no talking; only the sounds of cutlery on plates or table. The food was simple vegetarian but plentiful with a taste of WOW I'm in heaven, but I found that I had no need to fill my plate and ate a fraction of what I would normaly woof down at home; never once did I feel hungry.

The day started at 6am there was tea and a biscuit in the dining hall 6.20 was the first of the meditations in the Temple. At 7am was morning service. Some of the guests there could not understand the reason for the ritualistic movements and chanting and failed to realise that Buddhism is not a religon of faith but but a religon of living life. The ritualistic movements and chanting was a tool to focus the mind on the teachings of Buddha and having respect for all the teachers of buddhist wisdom that came after Buddha.

7.45am Breakfast; a simple affair of porridge or rice, bread and a selection of fruit.

8.30am Working meditation. For the next one and half hours we were all given jobs to do in silence; I was given what I call temple work. That was cleaning and polishing all the altar brass which was enjoyable as my mind drifted back to my coven days and the cleaning we did before ritual.

10am The first of the talks with tea and biscuits in the common room.

11.30am Back to the Temple for meditation.

12.30pm Dinner. After we had eaten it was almost a repeat of the morning with working meditation, talks with tea and biscuits, Medicine Tea at 6pm was comprise of a bowl of soup and bread. I did not quite understand why it was called Medicine Tea but in some Buddhist Abbey's they don't eat after the mid-day meal so on a cold winters day would be allowed a bowl of hot soup in the evening to warm the body to starve off the chills.

Back to the Temple and meditation before the evening service then we had and hour quite time before lights out at 10pm.

It was an experience I fully recommend at least once in your life; When you have a thousand voices(thoughts) all fighting for your attention inside your head how can you hope to hear the quite voice of wisdom.

Try this with each of your senses over the next week; have a nose day; tomorrow a touch day and so on. We do in our lives neglect our senses and only take in a fraction of the information that they hold.

REDISCOVER YOUR SENSES

"Smell is a potent wizard that transports us across thousands of miles and all the years we have lived."
-- Helen Keller

Many of us are so wrapped up in our thinking and activity that we have lost touch with our senses. Sensing brings us fully into the moment. Only when we are aware and conscious can we receive the gifts of experience our senses continually bring us.

Today, set an intention to be aware of smells. Focus on your nose and awaken to its sensitivity. As you smell more consciously, let go of your judgment of the aromas. Don't label them good or bad; simply experience them for their individual qualities. Also note when smells revive old memories.

"When you start using senses you've neglected, your reward is to see the world with completely fresh eyes."
-- Barbara Sher

====================

Bright Blessings

Mitch