DROPS OF WISDOM: After All These Years, Would You Trade Your Life?
Hi everyone.?Sending warmest wishes from ToDo.
Gregg and I recently took a bide ride in Woodstock, VT, on a spectacular day, the kind?of?day that couldn't be improved upon in any way.?We rode with a cool breeze and a warm sun, under the bluest sky with the puffiest clouds, in the shimmering light?of?August on the most bucolic back roads.?And add to this scene the most beautiful stone walls, bordering much?of?the ride, adding their own definition and charm.
We've done this bike ride before, but due to recent storms there were road closings that resulted in a detour that was much longer and steeper than we had planned for . . . but we made it!???How lucky for us to have bodies and bikes and beautiful roads to pedal on.??
I wish you could have been there, to witness and experience the beauty?of?this ride.
With kindest wishes,
Linda
After All These Years, Would You Trade Your Life?
by Gregg Krech
I have 5,163 days left to live.
More or less.
I’m writing this on my birthday.?I’ve completed 68 years since I found my way into this world.?Several times a year I calculate how much time I have left.?I do that by calculating the number?of?days I have lived and subtracting that number from 30,000 – an estimate?of?how many days we each have to live.?If I lived in one?of?the Blue Zones like Okinawa, Japan or Sardinia, Italy, my number would be slightly higher.
The number?of?days I have left goes down every time I check.?I’m noticing a trend here.
Lest you think this is a morbid exercise, it’s not.?It’s my periodic wake up call.?When I lived, briefly, in a Zen center in Japan, the head monk would walk behind us during meditation and hit us on the shoulder with a stick.?It stung, just enough to provide a jolt?of?energy.?When he finished, I would bow, communicating my thanks.
I was grateful to be awakened.?I didn’t want to sleep through meditation.?And I don’t want to sleep through the remaining days?of?my life.?I’m grateful to see my mortality right in front?of?me.?There are things I need to do before I die.?The urgency?of?that number works in my favor.
I take no credit for being born.?That goes to my mom and dad, both?of?whom died in the past ten years. Thanks to them I am able to watch a chickadee open a sunflower seed at the birdfeeder and taste a fresh blueberry right from a blueberry bush.?One?of?my favorite passages is from Bill Bryson’s book, A Short History?of?Nearly Everything,
“Consider the fact that for 3.8 billion years, a period?of?time older than the Earth’s mountains, rivers and oceans, every one?of?your forebears on both sides has been attractive enough to find a mate, healthy enough to reproduce, and sufficiently blessed by fate and circumstances to live long enough to do so.”
So I guess my presence here goes back a bit further than my mom and dad.?But?of?all my ancestors, I knew my parents the best. They not only brought me into this world, but they kept me alive for a while until they could pass on that responsibility to others.?I am still “kept” alive, for without the support?of?other people, objects and forms?of?energy, I have no capacity to keep myself alive, at least for very long.
Plum Blossoms Harmonize with Snow
I went down to the lake with Linda this morning.?We sat a few feet from the calm water and I opened a book that I pulled from the library and,?with my eyes closed, picked a page to read. My birthday reading.
It was a passage about plum blossoms from the book, Zen Seeds, by Rev. Shundo Aoyama.?She was recalling the words?of?an ancient sage:
“A branch?of?plum blossoms harmonizes fragrantly with snow.”?
She comments that during the winter there are plum blossoms that are burdened with a wet snow from a snowstorm.?Instead?of?succumbing to the weather, the blossoms exude a sweet fragrance, looking noble in their garland?of?snow and they flourish.
“What helps to enrich us and make us strong,” says Aoyama, “is not favorable circumstances?. . .?
PRACTICE?OF?THE WEEK
Watch the "Movie" Show
Pay attention to nature's?dance performance?-- leaves and grass playing?in the air, blossoms fluttering, branches swaying.?Witness?the subtle and not-so-subtle breeze as it becomes visible in the movements?of?nature.?Tune in to nature's spontaneous "movie" show.??
We have a big stand?of?Quaking Aspens on our property.?They?earned their name because?of?their long and delicate stems, which?allow their leaves to quake and tremble with the slightest breeze.?They are the most vibrant and passionate?of?our local dancers.
RESIDENTIAL CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
IN JAPANESE PSYCHOLOGY
领英推荐
Sept. 24-30, 2023??
with Gregg Krech, Linda Anderson Krech, & Sabine Kaspari
Once a year we conduct our?Residential Certification Program in Japanese Psychology, our most comprehensive educational offering, and we still have a few openings for the 2023 program!
Join us for 6 days?of?study, practice. discussion, reflection, camaraderie, cooking, eating, laughing, meditating, and tuning in to the natural beauty?of?Vermont.
Gregg Krech has written five books on Japanese Psychology, and has been teaching and practicing for well over 30 years.?(This program is a required component?of?the certification process, and provides 64 credits toward certification.)?
STARTS ON SATURDAY
THE FUNDAMENTALS?OF?JAPANESE PSYCHOLOGY
Aug.?26?- Sept. 15, 2023??
with Gregg Krech,?Linda Anderson Krech, & Trudy Boyle
The Fundamentals?of? Japanese Psychology provides a broad? overview?of Morita Therapy, Naikan and Living Fully with Illness and Aging, in a format that promotes both camaraderie and personalized instruction.
This 21-day program includes 9 hours?of?group presentation and discussion via zoom;?2 individual zoom sessions with an instructor, an?online discussion forum, thought-provoking resources and experiential engagement throughout.
Those successfully completing this program will earn 35 credits?toward Certification in Japanese Psychology.??
What's Happening at ToDo?
HEAT PUMP INSTALLED!
We are happy to announce that our heat pump was installed today!?(There it is, inconspicuously but centrally positioned above our clock.)
This unit will help us to both warm and cool our house, as needed, while reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.?Our thanks to Vermont Energy for doing such a great job.
The next step toward reducing ToDo's footprint will be a new roof with solar panels.??We are currently evaluating bids from several companies
QUOTE FOR TODAY
To make things as easy as possible to understand, we can summarize the four boundless qualities in the single phrase "a kind heart".?Just train yourself to have a kind heart always and in all situation.
-- Patrul Rinpoche
A Moment?of?Zen
"Perhaps change only takes place when there is sufficient reason to overcome the inertia?of?everyday life. Challenging situations create the force needed to bring about change. The problem is that we generally use all the stirred-up energy intended to bring about change, to resist change."
-- Michael Singer (from "The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life's Perfection")