The theme of the Buddhist class tonight is ‘Habits of Happy People’. I’m looking forward to it, not least because it’s a while since our group convened, when the last course finished before Christmas.
Lydia and I had an easy walk this morning, with no real attempts on her part to pull out of her bridle. In fact she walked steadily ‘to heel’ most of the way.
Quite remarkably, when a valuer from an estate agent came to look at the house, she didn’t even bark at him – from her crate – when we opened the door to the room where we’d put her. He said he had five dogs at home so she must have recognised him as a ‘dog person’.
My afternoon at the Buddhist Centre left me slightly damp – It was raining and I was working outside, doing my usual Friday afternoon job of sweeping up leaves around the accommodation blocks. I do, however, feel invigorated by the fresh air and exercise and most of all by a chance meeting with the Spiritual Director of the Centre, Gen-la Kelsang Kunsang. Her warmth, words of encouragement and kind hugs meant more than I can say.
I was also offered some biscuits with the cup of tea I sat down to when the job was done. The offer – and provision – of these by the Reception Manager at the Centre were much appreciated.
Home to a cup of cocoa and a hot shower, I can now rest. Though still struggling with some aspects of my mental health, I know how fortunate I am to have my physical health, and try not to take it for granted. I also know how lucky I am to be able to put meditation techniques into practise and benefit from the teachings of Buddha, as well as taking my daily dose of anti-depressant medication.
Lydia is having a bit of fresh air outside at the moment, having been in the house all afternoon.
Our walk this morning using the new bridle was easy. This may be a one-off but I’ll take it for now. She doesn’t seem in any way as averse to it as the previous one, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ve finally got a workable solution.
I picked Lydia up from the kennels where she’s boarded over the last couple of nights, taking her for a short walk before heading for home and breakfast.
After a rest I headed off to the Madhyamaka Buddhist Centre – that I’ve decided now to call ‘Magic Maka’ Buddhist Centre, as much as anything by virtue of it being there. That in itself is quite a remarkable piece of magic as far I’m concerned.
I did my usual job of sweeping up around the accommodation blocks. It was a bit chilly but I had plenty of layers on and quickly warmed up. The sun came out for a while and I steadily worked away until the job was done. After a mug of decaff tea I drove home.
More resting tonight, a bit of telly, some more of the corn chowder that Trev made for tea yesterday, and an early night are in order. I am keeping in mind the message from the teaching on New Year’s Eve. A calm and peaceful mind is what I am working to develop. I will develop a calm and peaceful mind.
I had a walk on the beach today, just before lunch, a short walk from the Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre.
The teaching yesterday evening was inspirational, the buffet supper was delicious, and the opportunity to chant in the New Year in the company of others in the Temple was so welcome. We could hear fireworks going off outside just as we reached a quiet part of the prayer ceremony, almost as if it had been planned.
This morning – after a good sleep – I enjoyed a sociable breakfast, followed by more chanting, and a delicious – and also sociable – lunch after my walk.
Though still not in the most positive frame of mind I’ve ever been in – and I continue to attribute this to being tired as much as anything else – I now have a reminder of what I can do to have a ‘Happy New Year’: develop and maintain a calm and peaceful mind. I will keep working on it, day by day, step by step. It’s good to get clear direction; all I have to do now is follow it.
My car was booked in for a service this morning so Trev followed me round in his car to the service centre, where I transferred Lydia from my car to his so that I could walk her on the way home.
The car was ready by early afternoon and it was a clear and mild day so I walked back to pick it up.
Later in the afternoon I had a bath – the first bath I’ve had in a long time. Showers are so much easier in so many ways but I did enjoy a good soak, with the addition of some mineral salts and an essential oil – ylang ylang.
The theme for the current Buddhist course – last week, this week and next week – is ‘love’. This week the emphasis was on ‘affectionate love’; a love that is free from delusions such as attachment and anger.
It is such a lovely theme to explore in the context of Buddha’s teachings and feels especially so at this time of the year. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to receive such wonderful words of wisdom.
Before and after going to the dog field with Lydia this morning, I did some work in the kitchen, finishing the decorating and cleaning, then putting things back but reducing clutter at the same time. It does look and feel so much better.
Leaving Lydia to look after the house – Trev was still away but came back this afternoon – I headed over to the Buddhist Centre to do some volunteering for a few hours.
The work was outside. To begin with it felt a bit cold, but I had gloves, a hat, coat and boots. It wasn’t long before I took off the hat, coat and gloves, as the physicality of the work – sweeping – warmed me up. A few people – residents at the Centre – passed me as I was working and all made appreciative comments. The young lady who was supervising me made sure that I was happy doing the work and insisted that I had a cup of tea before I left, which I did.
The satnav on the way home directed me on a different route to the one I normally take and it proved to be a calm and quiet drive, through villages lit up by Christmas lights – lovely.
Arriving home, I was glad I’d made the enchiladas the day before as all I had to do was turn the oven on before giving Lydia her tea and then having a bit of a rest. Trev had returned home and it was good to watch a bit of telly. It’s been a fairly full day, and a good one.
We were talking about Christmas jumpers in the kitchen after the Buddhist group meeting tonight.
I don’t have a Christmas jumper as such any more, having sent the one I had to a charity shop a few years ago. I do have a festive jumper though. It is warm and soft with a kind of Nordic pattern on it and I may wear that to the meeting next week.
We meditated on the ‘Om Ah Hum’ mantra with much of the teaching devoted to deepening our understanding of that mantra, which represents the body, speech and mind of Buddha.
Home to lovely Lydia, I give her a few treats and she’s now lying down on the other side of the room, ready I think for her ‘sleepy time’.
I’m not quite ready for my ‘sleepy time’ yet this evening. I may just sit up for a while and reflect a bit more on the mantra.
I’ve been reading more of the book, ‘How to Transform Your Life’ by the Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Rinpoche.
Just being able to concentrate on reading again feels like a bit of a transformation, although that is not the type of transformation that the book is about. Or maybe it is, in that meditation and doing my best to put the teachings into practice have helped to start bringing my concentration levels back.
Lydia has done a lot of barking today, after a quiet walk this morning. She’s now had her tea and is snuggled up to her blanket/quilt. She’s looking at me and blinking her eyes and making a few gurgly noises with her throat, so I think she’s fairly relaxed.
There’s meatloaf left over from yesterday that Trev made so it’s an easy tea for us, with some boiled potatoes, steamed broccoli and gravy.
A bit more telly tonight, keeping things steady this week as I’ll be doing some intensive deep cleaning next week. Trev’s away for a few days so I’ll set to with my steam cleaner. We’re getting ready to put the house on the market in the New Year, and it’s just about doing what needs to be done for that, before Christmas.
Lydia jumped onto the grooming table as we arrived at our appointment this morning, without any prompting from either me or Vicky, the groomer. Each time we go she is more relaxed about the process, although I still put a muzzle on her and feed her lots of treats through it, reinforcing the positive and managing the risk at the same time.
After grooming we went for a walk and then home. For once she didn’t push her breakfast ball around until it was empty – she was still so full of treats.
This afternoon I drove to the Buddhist Centre, to do a few hours of voluntary work that I’ve offered to do.
It felt good to work in a different environment and also to not feel rushed or pressurised in any way. After being introduced to the work that needed doing, I was left to get on with it and given a few encouraging comments along the way. The work was a simple physical activity although I did need to concentrate and apply sustained effort, which I did for almost three hours before heading for home.
It’s another early start tomorrow as I’m setting up a table at the Bootham & Southowram Methodist Church Christmas Fayre. So, I’ll take Lydia out for a walk just before dawn, pack a few remaining things that I need to take into the car and head off.
Today’s been a good day and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Glad About 
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