Mortality

has been weighing on my mind again recently and today in particular. This would have been my brother’s 57th birthday if he had lived to see it.

I’d like to think that somehow he’s out there in the cosmos, the better part of his spirit serving as a beacon for those he loved in life. I fear, however, that he is only ashes – the mortal remains of his 56 years on Earth.

Are we who we think we are? Are we more? Or are we just clouds passing, some raining down fatal tragedy, most ignored, others delighting with their fleeting majesty?

I offer no answers today, but I know they are within me. Breathing still gives me the opportunity to make a difference.

I live. I can love. I will continue to share.

Namaste.

See more progress on: philosophize on 43T

Living the Freelance Life

I quit the substitute teaching work I had been doing for two years and began freelancing fulltime… writing web content and articles, editing/proofreading, publishing books and ebooks. I’m happy to say that not only is it working out okay, I actually have enough work lined up to take me through the end of the year, and I’m even turning jobs away (the low-paying ones, of course).

This was something I dreamed of in my 20s. It’s hard work and difficult to take a day off at times. Deadlines are just as stressful as they were when I worked fulltime as an employee. But being gainfully self-employed is liberating. And once in a while, really exciting. For example, I recently completed a memoir project that took over a year from first interview to final delivery. The author is having a signing for her newly published book at a local Barnes & Noble on Sunday, Sept. 19 (two days after her 69th bitrhday). I’m going to get it listed on Amazon.com, too. Exciting stuff, indeed.

Rituals and Routines

Ritual behavior is not required to be a good Buddhist, but it can be useful in instilling mindfulness and making it part of daily routines. Each time I move, I set up my little home shrine in a place where it can overlook my living quarters. This time, I’ve set it up on the top of the bookcase near the front door so that I look at it frequently every day, a reminder of life less temporal.

The shrine is made up of items I’ve collected on my journeys, mostly from Thailand, Japan, China and here in Las Vegas. Each item is associated with a specific memory. Most serve a specific purpose I can meditate on. It contains all the elements: earth (stones), water (in the chalice), fire (candles), and air (birds in flight). Also all of the senses: sight (Buddha images), sound (bell), smell (incense), touch (prayer beads) and taste (when I add some fresh fruit). There is also a “vault of treasures” (the wooden box used as a pedestal) that contains several talismans and trinkets, reminders of a rich inner world that cannot be seen. The shrine provides lots of symbolism and opportunity for reflection.

Over the past year or so, I haven’t been praying or meditating as often as I might. Now that I am establishing some new routines, there should be room for more ritual in my life. I am looking forward to it.

See more progress on: be a better buddhist