spirituality – Glad About

Writing into Life, more

The theme for tonight’s Buddhist meeting – as it will be for the next few meetings – is ‘embracing change’.

I’ve been doing my best to ‘change my mind’ for a long time. It’s a slow process, for me, but one that I’m committed to. I listen, I meditate, I reflect and, one way or another, I change.

I hope – pray – that the process of change is also bringing about healing. I think it is.

Our usual teacher is away, so the teaching is given by a nun from the Centre.

We meditate on death and impermanence, which may sound morbid, but acknowledging and facing the inevitability of death does make sense to me, and I listen intently.

I don’t feel I have to fully understand and remember everything that I hear, and I certainly don’t. My powers of recall are not that good, and it is a process of gradual assimilation anyway.

There was a lot of emphasis on being able to let go of attachments that we acquire and accumulate in this life. I’ve not necessarily been that good at acquiring and attaching but then I’ve historically not been very good at letting go either.

After greeting me when I got home, Lydia has now settled down to sleep, on her favourite rug. She looks totally adorable and relaxed.

I’ll just sit for a while before I too settle down for the night.

I don’t need to set an alarm for tomorrow morning – we can just sleep as long as we want to and get up when we’re ready. Luxury!

Lydia enjoying a yak’s milk chew yesterday evening

Continuing the story of Lydia and Me

“Oh, what a beautiful day!”

Yesterday I sat outside on a bench, with a friend. We were watching the world go by. Our part of the world, in our village. It was quiet, with just a few passing cars, people and birds.

Then my friend suddenly burst into song: “Oh, what a beautiful morning! Oh, what a beautiful day!”* And I joined in.

It was a moment I will treasure and will always remember every time I now walk past or sit on that bench.

My friend, in her eighties, suffering from dementia and grieving the loss of loved ones from her life, gave me a great gift. She transformed my day into a beautiful one, through her spontaneity and joy; the joy of her loving heart, however sad it may be.

This morning as I woke, I found messages on my phone from members of a WhatsApp group I belong to. It’s a group called ‘Sangha Meditation’. ‘Sangha’ is a Buddhist term for ‘community’ and I really value the support and sense of community that centres around the Buddhist teachings that I go to. The messages were very simple – people just checking in to see who was planning to go the evening meeting – but it was good to be included in that very simple exchange. How wonderful!

This evening’s class will be the last in a series of four, on the theme of ‘Transforming Adversity’.

I’ve had a massive amount of support from friends and therapists over the last few years of my life, when I’ve been doing my best to deal as positively as possible with a very difficult and complex set of circumstances. I’ve also been taking on board the Buddhist teachings, as presented in these weekly classes, and occasionally at weekend and day retreats.

The practice of meditation has been and continues to be a transformative process for me. I still have a long way to go to achieve the calm and peaceful mind that I aim for. However, thanks to friends – in the village and in the wider community – I do now have moments of spontaneously feeling happy.

I think Lydia has moments when she spontaneously feels happy too. We’re getting there.

My book, Train your dog; train your mind – positive reinforcement for humans and canines – is now available in paperback: https://amzn.eu/d/eQ2sWjU.

The Kindle version is currently for sale at £2.99 on a Kindle Countdown deal https://amzn.eu/d/99yW3Qk.

I don’t claim to be a dog trainer or a mind trainer – I’m just a woman with a dog who writes a blog, and has written a book, about life, and about being glad.

*A song by Rodgers & Hammerstein

Tag: spirituality

Day 3

Day 24