A little cuteness to start off the weekend

Our new babies: Jali, the bull, and Ovi, the heifer

https://youtu.be/-ukvGLVT-2g

We are

                        

"A torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of ... a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred".

I love this phrase: "the transition from the mundane to the sacred"; and I love the symbolism of the Torii gate. Since there are no Torii gates where I live, I've been asking myself: what do we need in our lives in order to transition from the ordinary to the sacred?

My experience has taught me that we don't really need much. We don't need a Torii gate, or a church, or books, or anything at all (although I don’t mean to denigrate these things, knowing that they are very meaningful and helpful to some). We don't necessarily have to go somewhere special; we don't have to wait for somebody or something to create sacred space for us.

Sacredness is available to all of us at every single moment of our ordinary lives; all we need in order to access it is a certain amount of willingness and awareness.

To me, sacredness is not found in the "where, who, or what" of our lives, but in the "how". We may have little or no control over what we're handed in life, but HOW we walk through life is indeed our choice.

Everything can be sacred, and everything can be profane, depending on our bearing and our frame of mind. Every step we take, every breath we draw, every thought and interaction we have, we can be walking through an invisible Torri gate.

When we walk in sincerity and simplicity; when we walk in the light of our heart and our compassion; when we walk in openness and authenticity - then, every step is a walk through the Torri gate, and into the sacred.

And some day, when we have become accustomed to this way of walking, we'll find that there is no ordinary and no sacred; no Torri gate; no division; only the walking.

~~~

(Image source: Pixabay)

Blueberry picking and a little bit of everything else

Even though it's 100 degrees outside! At least I got her to wear a hat.

Maybe you're getting sick of me posting so many flowers. But I can't help it. Every day, I see some new angle, some beautiful new development that I must capture and share :)

Aiyana working on a math packet that her Algebra 2 teacher sent out.

And working on her crochet for her Etsy store.

Yesterday, we went to RI to see Ed's parents and brother. The ocean was beautiful. We went to a spot we know where there's barely ever anyone.

I realized that I've barely posted any pictures of the farm on my blog recenly. If you're interested in that side of things, you can follow shundahaifarm on Instagram. I post there a few times a week, and it's all farmy stuff. Like this picture of my cheese for example:

And my pickles. They came out so good...

And this, of Sena trellising our insanely tall cherry tomato plants.

Peace

Elemental

My little container garden

My little garden brings me so much joy. Every morning, when I walk outside, it lifts me to see it and to notice what flowers have opened, which ones have passed away.

I wanted to share some pictures in hope of maybe giving you a little bit of that joy as well:

Peace

Aiyana's creative streak

Aiyana's been in a major creative period since quarantine began. At first, she did a lot of drawing, and more recently she's been crocheting all kind of cute little things and even opened up her own Etsy store. Here are some pictures of what she's been doing, and if you want to follow her on Instagram, check out her account @emporium_o_la_la

She crocheted this tanktop

And this cute granny-square halter top

This picture calms me down.

One of my favorite pictures of Aiyana.

Peace

Careful what you pray for

We often pray for things that bring us more harm than good. When our mind is not clear, and our heart is not clear, How can we know what we need? Stop praying. Clean your house, your mind, your inner temple Rest in the shade of all your fears and desires Until you see what's there And when the inner light burns bright enough to light your way, Start walking.

Brilliant transience

Brilliant transience

Our lives -

Like drops of dew

In this eternal field of being 

Peace

It matters

How do I know that we are loved unconditionally? Because love is the most powerful creative force there is. And because we're here. I just put those two things together.

What if we were told from day one that we are loved completely and unconditionally; that we are beautiful and perfect; that we have special gifts which we must find and honor so that we could share them with others?

What if we truly believed this? How would we treat ourselves? How would we treat others?

Maybe you wish you had someone to remind you of this. Maybe you can be that someone for somebody else who needs this reminder.

And what if we also, out of that feeling of being loved unconditionally, acted with the full knowledge that everything we do has consequences; that we have choice and responsibility in how we comport ourselves towards ourselves and others?

Peace

Reference frame

I've been obsessed with frames of reference. Mindfulness, physics and anthropology have taught me that our frame of reference determines how we perceive, characterize, and act towards everything. So I've been holding a few questions within myself, giving them time to ferment into some kind of understanding. Questions like:
What is and what should be my frame of reference? How has my understanding been shaped by my frame of reference? How do I change my frame of reference?
Is it possible to have no frame of reference?
Can I see beyond my frame of reference? How does awareness affect my frame of reference? Does living in the moment imply a constantly shifting frame of reference?
Can love allow us to transcend our frame of reference?
Have you held any these questions close to you, and if so, what did you find?
~~~

And if all that seems way too stuck-in-your-own-head and wordy, you've got to watch this video and see what true presence looks like.

Peace

Quietly. Flamboyantly.

Ordinary morning 

These thoughts of gloom

And the outrageous beauty of the garden 

Quietly, flamboyantly

In bloom 

I am in love with the little container garden I created on the front porch.

Peace 

Inexorable: impossible to stop or to prevent

That which we love 

We create 

Like water flowing down the mountain 

Inexorably 

Love manifests

-rm

I found this to be quite true in my own experience. And when I've loved something for a long time, and then one day I realize that it has manifested in my life, that feeling always catches me by surprise, and it always makes me laugh.

And I also want to say that to love something, to me is a very different feeling than to want something. To love is inexorable - like water flowing - it will flow where it flows and nothing you can do will change that.

To want has that edge of aggression and ego to it that changes everything.

Peace

Can't catch the rabbit

Every morning, when I go out to milk my cow, I walk by a thick bush on my way to the pasture. For many days, I walked by it focused on the work ahead, without noticing anything. Then, one evening, Ed told me that a rabbit is always standing there near the bush.

The next morning, I forgot about the rabbit and walked by the bush without paying attention, as usual. But on my way back, after the milking, I remembered the rabbit and started looking for it. Sure enough, there it was, right by the bush, and when it saw me looking, it ran into the bush.

There were a few more mornings like that, forgetting and then remembering, and each time I’d look, the rabbit was always there, but then, as I went towards it, it ran into the thickness of the bush.

One day, I stopped and started talking to it, knowing that it was right there in the bush, very close to me, though I couldn’t see it.

Today, I was on a long drive, and I was thinking about this rabbit. There’s something very comforting to me in knowing that it’s always there on the path. Whether I’m paying attention to it or not.

It struck me that there’s a certain quality I’ve felt in meditation, and sometimes in gardening, sometimes just before falling asleep, etc., that reminds me of this rabbit; something quiet and permanent and elusive.  I don’t have the perfect name for it, but some words that come to mind are: joy, beauty, a deep, underlying sense of peace and goodness.

Just like I didn’t notice the rabbit all those times I was walking right by it, we often do not notice the joy and beauty and goodness in our life, though they are always there. There are times when we decide to actively pursue, or purposely go looking for these qualities. Whether it’s on vacation, some form of entertainment, or some special type of activity, we chase down things that we hope will fulfill us and bring us peace and happiness. But often, we find that these qualities cannot be chased; they elude us, hiding out of sight, just like the rabbit did every time I purposely looked for it.

What the rabbit helped me realize is that maybe all we need to do is walk whatever path we’re already on right now, but just do so with awareness. Because at the edge of that path, there are joy, beauty, goodness, silently standing by – we just need to be aware that they’re there. We don’t need to make a special effort to chase them down, in fact, that effort will not work. Just going about our business with presence and awareness that these qualities we so desperately want are already there – that’s all we need to do.

Driving home after a hectic workday today, I did not feel joy or happiness. I felt drained and exhausted and kind of empty. But I pictured the rabbit standing at the edge of the path, and that was enough. Without trying to change anything, without needing to change anything, I kept driving. 

There have been many times in the past when feeling empty and tired made me feel guilty and frustrated, adding to my exhaustion the weight of judgments such as“ I should not be feeling like this, I should be happy”.  I should try to catch the rabbit.

The difference today was that I realized that I don’t need to catch it. I don’t need to make it mine. I just need to remember that it’s there.

Peace

She speaks in fireflies

She'll speak to you in Fireflies In drops of rain In countless shades of green She'll soothe your tired eyes And wash away the heaviness She'll bring you hope like sunrise And rest in moonlit nights

Peace

What are you looking at, and what do you see?

Quantum mechanics, and the double slit experiment in particular (in which light behaves as a wave or a particle depending on how we observe it), has taught us that how we look at something determines what we see. How we measure something becomes part of, and defines, what we find.

On a more personal, every day level, I believe that things work in a similar way in our search to understand ourselves and the world around us.

HOW we look at ourselves and our world changes what we find. It becomes an integral part of, and it defines, what we find.

We can try to understand ourselves and our world through the lens of socially accepted norms; through our practical experience; through our thoughts and emotions; our likes and dislikes; through meditation and contemplation. There are infinite ways to pursue the fundamental questions: Who am I? What is this?

As far as I can tell, there is no one, final answer. I have no problem with that. But I do find it amazing and awe inspiring, to realize that in this never ending, dynamic quest, we and our world are redefined and intertwined with every single interaction we have as part of the search itself.

Peace

Remain astonished

I was talking with someone who I feel very close to about depression. And while I feel I have inadequately little to offer other than just being there to listen and talk, late last night, these lines came to me.

I guess at the core of it, I do feel that the ability to remain astonished can pull us through some of the toughest times. At least that's been true for me, and I hope that it can be true for you as well.

Peace 

Jasmine's new baby

Meet Jali, Jasmine's new baby bull. He's so cute!
https://youtu.be/B-btkzizYCE

Faust

By the end of Goethe's Faust Part 1, Faust is a mess. Well-intentioned but misguided, he made a deal with the cunning Mephistopheles, the devil himself, earlier in the book. In so doing, he was able to win the heart of Gretchen, but then quickly brought ruin and disaster to her, the only girl he ever loved.

Now, at the beginning of Part 2 (which Goethe wrote many years later), Faust is lying restless, distraught and exhausted in a field of grass and flowers. Though he is in beautiful surroundings, he knows no rest, no peace. Invisible spirits are all around him, and sensing his suffering, these beneficial beings take pity on him and conspire to help him heal.

"Heal now his heart, in noble elfin fashion:

Soothe its fierce conflict and the bitter passion

Of self reproach's burning darts, make clean

His soul of all the horrors it has seen

...

And to the sacred light restore him"
(4622-4633)

I love these lines. Who among us is not weighed down by the existential burdens that Faust carries: inner conflict, self reproach, horrors seen or heard about...?

Whether we know it or not, we all are, and on some level, we all yearn to be restored, to be made whole again, to heal.

Faust begins his journey into healing with these beneficial spirits helping him. But for the rest of us, I find it a good thing to spend a little time reflecting on what we wish to be cleaned of, and what can help us do that. What are some of our “beneficial spirits”, or practices that can help restore our sacred light, that can help us heal and feel clean again, if only for a little while?

For me, some of these practices include creativity, being with my plants and animals, meditation and contemplation; connecting with people without fear of judgment. How about you?

I've been holding Goethe’s stunning lines close to me, and I want to share them with you because I find them so beautiful and soothing. I hope that they bring you comfort, and I hope that you can see a little reflection of yourself in them and know that you’re not alone.

May we all receive what we need in order to move forward in a lighter way, rejuvenated, and at peace with ourselves and others.

Hunger

There are different kinds of hunger. And I don't mean actual physical hunger to nourish our bodies, but the kinds of hunger that drive us mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

There’s the kind of hunger that’s mostly defined in reference to others. It is greatly concerned with appearances, and with proving something to others. When we’re young, many of us feel this kind of hunger; we want to prove that we’re “somebody”, that we’ve “made it”, according to some pre-determined, socially accepted standard. This kind of hunger leaves us empty and hard. It makes us feel lonely on a fundamental level. It can never be satisfied nor satisfy.

This is not the kind of hunger I am talking about.

There’s another kind of hunger. This kind has no reference point other than yourself; or rather, something undefinable within yourself. This something drives you in a continual reaching out towards life, an opening, a freeing from dogmas and other artificial boundaries. This is a hunger to know the essence of things and of yourself. It cannot ever be fully satisfied either, but the process of trying to satisfy it is in itself fulfilling. This is the hunger that feeds the fires of creativity, and drives us to expand beyond ourselves.

I’ve known both kinds of hunger; I am grateful for knowing and being able to mostly distance myself from the first one as it began to feel too heavy, and take too great of a toll on me. And I am also grateful to know the second kind, which has been inspiring me and allowing me to feel close to life in a way I couldn’t envision before experiencing it.

Peace

I'm in!

Right after harvesting my zucchini today, I found out that I was officially accepted to the ARC program!  This is the program that will allow me to become a fully certified Physics teacher. It runs from Sept.10th to May20th, once a week. I'm very happy about it!

Peace

Clarity

There's a difference between hope and illusion. Kill your illusions. But Keep walking that edge: being grounded in reality yet leaving room for hope.

To me, hope is grounded in respect for reality, and in the knowledge that there are many possibilities, and that we have agency to make changes. Illusion is grounded more in our own wishful thinking, without substantial action behind it.

Peace