Death and hiking

I know that's a weird title, but it's descriptive of the two topics I had in mind for this post. My pet mouse Delta just died, a fact which most people might find a bit sad, but on the whole utterly trivial. In a way, it's as trivial as all death. Vast numbers of creatures of all sizes are dying every single second. How significant is one more? Still my wife and I were very attached to the little girl, and we were quite sad to see her go. It's interesting to compare the life of a mouse with the life of a dog, a human, or even a car. It's easier to observe the overall arc of life in a mouse because it does happen so quickly. In all cases we start accumulating various problems which don't quite fix themselves, and after a while they become catastrophic enough that our body ceases to function. It's the natural arc of life in which every creature is embedded. My Buddhist training tells me that when a tragedy happens, like the death of a loved one, to use it to further my own practice. I think to myself that I am no different in nature from the one who died, and I will eventually die, though I don't know when. It could be that I won't see tomorrow. Realizing this, I am spurred by the short time I have left to make the most of every moment.

Speaking of running short on time, I'm about to leave on a 4.5 day hiking trip. It should be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, that means I have to end this blog post rather abruptly....

Excellent video

This video really drives home its point. I cried watching it.

Frozen in time

The Buddha compared the course of our life to the trajectory of an arrow. Just as the arrow rushes toward its target, our life proceeds inexorably towards death. To us, it appears as though time is fixed. As we stare at a person, or at ourselves, we do not see any change from second to second. Yet, we really are changing. Our bodies are changing. Our mind is changing. Nothing ever remains the same. This is what Buddhists call subtle impermanence, or even subtle suffering. It is called suffering because the perception that things remain the same, that they are therefore real objects which we can cling to and find support in, is actually completely and totally illusory. All conceptual constructs are constantly bubbling in and out of existence. People in their youth typically have no comprehension of the reality that they will one day either grow old or die. This is somewhat odd, in that this one of the most blatantly obvious things we can observe about reality. The Buddhist view is that this elementary error is due to lifetimes of habit. We habitually cling to objects as real. We habitually cling to our current form as permanent. Yet nothing is permanent, and therein lies hope. By abandoning our attachment to what is impermanent, we can find happiness in the vast nonconceptual state of Buddhahood. More importantly, if we abandon attachment to self and dedicate ourselves to the happiness of others, the subtle suffering coming from our attachment to outer appearances dissolves, and the clear light of Buddhahood shines forth.

Off Facebook for a while at least

I've decided to take a break from Facebook for a while. So I'm back here posting. Will anyone read what I write? I'm not sure. Perhaps a few, or maybe none. Still, I think it's more important for my own personal progress to make longer more considered posts, than to keep posting status updates which don't really lead anywhere.