Busy Day
I've been reading a book called Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh, and I'm learning a lot of really specific practices that are just making living a little easier. His version of the Five Precepts still has me amazed and inspired. There are some things about being rooted in a long tradition with millenium of tested human usage of the practices that I can't deny. Still, I've always liked the prophets better, who like to tear down the very institutions priests build and hold dear.
I have always been and always will be suspicious and distrustful of religion for religion's sake. But there are practices, communities, particular individuals that I've come across that just... they work. They work with integrity, and they sustain and build up rather than tear down. Sometimes I really sympathize with Sanzo, who tried to tear down Heaven for its inequity and injustice, but is still... connected to what is Holy and Divine.
It was interesting to know that a working Sangha has four or more people, which made me think of the Sanzo-ikkou as being a working Sangha. *laughs* Which I know would horrify some real Buddhists, given the Sanzo-ikkou's violent tendencies and inability restrain themselves, but... it's an interesting idea for me, because it's pretty clear that only by having the other three does any single member keep going.
I love learning more about Buddhism, and its myriad Ways are fascinating to me. And I loved Thich Nhat Hanh's thoughts about how the living Buddha and the living Christ are only alive through us. That the Buddha is not a god any more than anyone else is a god, and that everyone has the potential to be a Buddha. I now want to finish the last book of the Journey to the West with what I now know about the living religion within it, and there's a lot to inspire other things.
So, that was good. I had a very productive, working morning. I then went to my allergy clinic for the first time in two months, and actually got my bee venom shot. They tell me not to come in for the shot if I have a cold, or if I need my immune system, and for the past two months, I've needed my immune system pretty badly. I haven't been well for a very long time. And the last time I'd gotten a shot, I'd just gotten over a month long set of colds.
I was kind of anxious about it, because I didn't know how far down they'd put the dosage because of the huge delay, but they ended up only doing .8cc instead of 1cc, which isn't much at all, and said that I could go back to my full dosage in a month. I didn't have to come again in a week to build it back up! That was amazing to me.
So that was good.
I decided to treat myself to a custom made Smash Burger, with tomato, lettuce, special sauce, grilled onions, and sharp cheddar. I'd been hoping for something In-and-Out-like, but it ended up being quite different since I asked for a whole-grain bun and the seasoning is nothing like. *laughs* It's amazing what a difference the sum total of small things can be. The seasoning of the patty, the softness of the bun, the flavor and texture of the cheese, the fact that they didn't toast the bun, the grilled onions weren't caramelized, and the special sauce wasn't actually In-and-Out sauce. *laughs* How can flavored mayo-based dressings be so utterly different?
It was still tasty, and the skinny fries were similar enough to make me very happy indeed.
I ran around like a mad woman for the afternoon, chasing all kinds of things I didn't really want to be chasing, until Jet came home from school on the bus, and the walk out to the bus helped center me again.
I made Chinese scallion pancakes for dinner, to go with the slow-cooked preserved mustard greens pork I'd cooked a few days back. John made coleslaw and we had a wonderful dinner. We played more Dominion after dinner, it's a card-deck building game, where you buy cards as you go, and the slowly growing deck plays the way you choose to build it. Jet has gotten three expansion packs for it, with hundreds of cards, and we now play a new combination of cards every night. There are a nigh on infinite number of combinations, and it's fun to explore how all the cards interact.
I'm also reading Making Money with Jet, the second book of the Moist Von Lipwig series, and we had a blast with the first Going Postal. We have the third, and I accidentally bought another copy. Oops. I'll probably sell it to our used bookstore and try and fill in our collection of Pratchett novels, we have nearly all of them. There is something about how Pratchett uses words that is like no other, and there are times when I have a terrible time reading aloud the words he uses because I'm trying not to cry and others when I'm laughing so hard I can't say them, either.
And Moist... *laughs* What an utterly unfortunate name, and what an amazing personality. Talking about Prophets who rip asunder the long-revered halls of treasured institutions, only to build them anew...
And, wow. I really did need to write down what was good about this day, as I was feeling pretty terrible about it, but feelings aren't always the truth, and it's better for me to gather what is true for me.
I have always been and always will be suspicious and distrustful of religion for religion's sake. But there are practices, communities, particular individuals that I've come across that just... they work. They work with integrity, and they sustain and build up rather than tear down. Sometimes I really sympathize with Sanzo, who tried to tear down Heaven for its inequity and injustice, but is still... connected to what is Holy and Divine.
It was interesting to know that a working Sangha has four or more people, which made me think of the Sanzo-ikkou as being a working Sangha. *laughs* Which I know would horrify some real Buddhists, given the Sanzo-ikkou's violent tendencies and inability restrain themselves, but... it's an interesting idea for me, because it's pretty clear that only by having the other three does any single member keep going.
I love learning more about Buddhism, and its myriad Ways are fascinating to me. And I loved Thich Nhat Hanh's thoughts about how the living Buddha and the living Christ are only alive through us. That the Buddha is not a god any more than anyone else is a god, and that everyone has the potential to be a Buddha. I now want to finish the last book of the Journey to the West with what I now know about the living religion within it, and there's a lot to inspire other things.
So, that was good. I had a very productive, working morning. I then went to my allergy clinic for the first time in two months, and actually got my bee venom shot. They tell me not to come in for the shot if I have a cold, or if I need my immune system, and for the past two months, I've needed my immune system pretty badly. I haven't been well for a very long time. And the last time I'd gotten a shot, I'd just gotten over a month long set of colds.
I was kind of anxious about it, because I didn't know how far down they'd put the dosage because of the huge delay, but they ended up only doing .8cc instead of 1cc, which isn't much at all, and said that I could go back to my full dosage in a month. I didn't have to come again in a week to build it back up! That was amazing to me.
So that was good.
I decided to treat myself to a custom made Smash Burger, with tomato, lettuce, special sauce, grilled onions, and sharp cheddar. I'd been hoping for something In-and-Out-like, but it ended up being quite different since I asked for a whole-grain bun and the seasoning is nothing like. *laughs* It's amazing what a difference the sum total of small things can be. The seasoning of the patty, the softness of the bun, the flavor and texture of the cheese, the fact that they didn't toast the bun, the grilled onions weren't caramelized, and the special sauce wasn't actually In-and-Out sauce. *laughs* How can flavored mayo-based dressings be so utterly different?
It was still tasty, and the skinny fries were similar enough to make me very happy indeed.
I ran around like a mad woman for the afternoon, chasing all kinds of things I didn't really want to be chasing, until Jet came home from school on the bus, and the walk out to the bus helped center me again.
I made Chinese scallion pancakes for dinner, to go with the slow-cooked preserved mustard greens pork I'd cooked a few days back. John made coleslaw and we had a wonderful dinner. We played more Dominion after dinner, it's a card-deck building game, where you buy cards as you go, and the slowly growing deck plays the way you choose to build it. Jet has gotten three expansion packs for it, with hundreds of cards, and we now play a new combination of cards every night. There are a nigh on infinite number of combinations, and it's fun to explore how all the cards interact.
I'm also reading Making Money with Jet, the second book of the Moist Von Lipwig series, and we had a blast with the first Going Postal. We have the third, and I accidentally bought another copy. Oops. I'll probably sell it to our used bookstore and try and fill in our collection of Pratchett novels, we have nearly all of them. There is something about how Pratchett uses words that is like no other, and there are times when I have a terrible time reading aloud the words he uses because I'm trying not to cry and others when I'm laughing so hard I can't say them, either.
And Moist... *laughs* What an utterly unfortunate name, and what an amazing personality. Talking about Prophets who rip asunder the long-revered halls of treasured institutions, only to build them anew...
And, wow. I really did need to write down what was good about this day, as I was feeling pretty terrible about it, but feelings aren't always the truth, and it's better for me to gather what is true for me.