“You kidding me?” called a young man from a nearby table, “Valdi, that’s my name. I’ve never met anyone with my name.” Meanwhile, my dog Waldi was jumping on his short legs, trying to get at the man’s curry-bowl. ”Can I take a picture? Unreal!”
Afterwards, I relized that our life albums are filled with nothing but Instagrams. Events come and go in a heartbeat. A few we remember — the ones to do with turning points and heartbreaks, for instance — but they, too, slip and slide with each telling. Probably the closests we retain are fading copies of what we think happened.
“Impermanence is a fundamental characteristic of existence itself,” writes Andrew Olendzki. “Rather than a problem to be solved, the Buddhists are encouraging us to let go our hold on illusory solidity and learn to swim freely in the sea of change.
“Instead of mourning what is lost when alterations occur, we can open to the opportunities each moment brings. Meditation is a form of training for this: each moment’s experience must be relinquished to be mindful for the next.”
* Olendzki, A. (2010). Unlimiting Mind: The Radically Experiential Psychology of Buddhism. Wisdom Publications, bolding added. Image credit: a borrowed image, but woof!, close enough.
Curry bowls and Dachshünde, instagrams from people far away who used to be children sitting at our breakfast table eating porridge on cold school mornings and the bodies which look too old to be ours. These things are not lost on the the great journey. They have turned into some other energy form powering other journeys. Happy trails!
That’s a good way of putting it/viewing ….when alterations occur’
Very poetic and clear. A good thing to read this morning. Peggy’s surgery has done her wonders, as I am hoping yours will–if that is the route you are going to take. I hope you are feeling somewhat better thqn the last several blog. Love, Arnie
Dear Arnie and Peggy, your good news and kind words warm my ❤️. Funny thing about my surgery. Two weeks before a scheduled knee replacement — following a three-year wait — it was cancelled in anticipation of back surgery . . . which has yet to be prescribed! For that to occur (maybe), I’ll be seeing a neurosurgeon in a week. Mysteriously, i had to wait just 4 instead of the customary 12 to 18 months to see him. Not sure how that happened — guardian angel, perhaps?
In spite of being in constant neuropathic pain for these 4 months, i‘m in fine form, psychospiritually. For that i thank my mindfulness practice. „Welcome Everything“ as the old ones taught.