It is Friday morning and I am preparing for work.
There is blue sky and sun today, a wonderful window in what has been mostly a cold and rainy November.
I was doing some surfing this morning and came upon the following link to a Buddhist text by Ekai, called Mu-mon, translated by Nyogen Senzaki and Paul Reps circa 1934:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/glg/index.htm
It is a translation of and commentary on 49 Zen Buddhist koans, originally published in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.
I read this book in my 20's while traveling and playing music in California and many years later met and studied with its author Paul Reps.
Both reading the book and meeting the author were life-changing experiences for me.
As I set off for the office I will be thinking about the young traveler meeting his teacher in the late 1970's and what a miracle in everyday guise that was.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
...more or less ready for another week.
It is Tuesday morning and we are getting glimpses of blue sky and sun though it is sure to be a narrow window in among the rainy waves of wet weather.
I received a phone message from Karen this morning. She was calling from a rooftop in Kerrisdale where she is working today (roofing) to tell me about a police standoff which happened near her apartment in South Vancouver last night. Apparently it lasted nearly 4 hours and ended with a huge boom which was the sound of some kind of weapon used to take the gunman out.
I have been calling Kadir nearly every day, something I was not able to do when he did not have a phone and it is great to be in constant contact with him. The other day I called him from work on my dinner break and he was in Kits with his school friends, waiting for a haircut!
There was a time when I couldn't pay him to get a haircut. How times change!
I did things sort of ass-backwards this morning…starting off with my meds and then a few phone calls including one to the dentist to settle my bill.
I followed this with prayers and exercises and then I grabbed the window of sunlight to take out my trash and go shopping at Safeway. I made a pit-stop at Great Clips and got my hair cut thus killing 2 birds with one stone.
The lady who cut my hair is a long time employee there of middle eastern origin but I haven’t seen her in over a year and so we picked up lost time by discussing last night’s 6.6 earthquake which I slept through but which Danny tweeted this morning.
She launched into a story about a big quake here in the early part of this decade which shook her West End apartment badly throwing a good scare into her and her husband. I couldn’t understand a lot of what she imparted as it was done in rapid-fire high speed with a strong accent but the gist of it was that she was aware that we live in a quake zone and she can’t understand why they are building so high in an area of such great risk.
Meanwhile the scissors and clippers flew and buzzed around my scalp as both of her hands gesticulated wildly describing her experience. In the mirror it almost looked like she was juggling. By the time she finished she was breathless but produced a mirror to show her handiwork which looked pretty good to me, against all odds.
I breathed a sigh of relief and thanks as I said goodbye and headed to Safeway.
The good thing about kicking off shopping early in a week day is that there were no lineups so I was in and out of there in a flash, and walked home with 2 bags of groceries. I used my canvas ones as I am careful these days about bringing home more plastic.
Once home, I put in my first load of laundry and then headed to the shower.
My chores almost done, I am more or less ready for another week.
I received a phone message from Karen this morning. She was calling from a rooftop in Kerrisdale where she is working today (roofing) to tell me about a police standoff which happened near her apartment in South Vancouver last night. Apparently it lasted nearly 4 hours and ended with a huge boom which was the sound of some kind of weapon used to take the gunman out.
I have been calling Kadir nearly every day, something I was not able to do when he did not have a phone and it is great to be in constant contact with him. The other day I called him from work on my dinner break and he was in Kits with his school friends, waiting for a haircut!
There was a time when I couldn't pay him to get a haircut. How times change!
I did things sort of ass-backwards this morning…starting off with my meds and then a few phone calls including one to the dentist to settle my bill.
I followed this with prayers and exercises and then I grabbed the window of sunlight to take out my trash and go shopping at Safeway. I made a pit-stop at Great Clips and got my hair cut thus killing 2 birds with one stone.
The lady who cut my hair is a long time employee there of middle eastern origin but I haven’t seen her in over a year and so we picked up lost time by discussing last night’s 6.6 earthquake which I slept through but which Danny tweeted this morning.
She launched into a story about a big quake here in the early part of this decade which shook her West End apartment badly throwing a good scare into her and her husband. I couldn’t understand a lot of what she imparted as it was done in rapid-fire high speed with a strong accent but the gist of it was that she was aware that we live in a quake zone and she can’t understand why they are building so high in an area of such great risk.
Meanwhile the scissors and clippers flew and buzzed around my scalp as both of her hands gesticulated wildly describing her experience. In the mirror it almost looked like she was juggling. By the time she finished she was breathless but produced a mirror to show her handiwork which looked pretty good to me, against all odds.
I breathed a sigh of relief and thanks as I said goodbye and headed to Safeway.
The good thing about kicking off shopping early in a week day is that there were no lineups so I was in and out of there in a flash, and walked home with 2 bags of groceries. I used my canvas ones as I am careful these days about bringing home more plastic.
Once home, I put in my first load of laundry and then headed to the shower.
My chores almost done, I am more or less ready for another week.
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