Healing Energy Share for Sunday,

March 12, 2006

What would Buddha do about the distractions of modern life?

Tiantong said, "If you haven't understood, you get involved in everything around you." Master Yunmen countered, "If you have understood, you get involved in everything around you."

Record of Yunmen, Pilgrimage Record 284

We all get distracted by little things. We feel we should be pursuing this or that Big Plan, yet we get swept away in the current of events. Perhaps this is why we call them "current" events. As the adage goes: "Life is what happens to you while you're making other plans."

In this dialogue, two Zen masters explore this question of distraction. Tiantong expreses the sense we have that distraction is a problem. Yunmen, of course, knows this is true. But, rather than simply agreeing with that important but obvious truth, he counters with something deeper. He says if you have truly understood reality, you still get involved in all the distractions of life because they are truly what life is. Life is lived in the present moment, with all its richness, its blooming, buzzing confusion. If we aren't involved in the distractions, we aren't involved at all.

This doesn't mean you have to drop the Big Plan. Just remember the Big Plan is made up of little experiences.

And having said that, I'd like to invite you all to take part in a relatively BIG distraction in my life.

On the 27th of this month, I will be celebrating my 40th birthday! Since my friends and family are spread out all over the globe, I can't ask a few hundred people to show up at my little apartment. So, I'd like to ask you to celebrate with me by having a cup of tea and chocolate on the 27th, say after dinner. For me, that's usually around 7pm, and you could do that in your time zone. If you feel so inclined, you can jump up and down, play a song, do a little dance. ^-^

I don't have a preference for a particular type of tea, but I do like to drink chai tea, white tea, green tea, oolong, earl grey, english breakfast. And DARK chocolate is IT for me. The purer, the better...at least 73% or more.

Michela is sending me a box of chocolates from Italy and I am SOOOO looking forward to that. Thank you, my friend. You are so kind and generous.

I should probably also tell you a little story about a birthday tradition I started a few years ago with friends and relatives in Virginia. It all started with the Hawaiian dance school where I attended class on Saturdays. And on the first Saturday of every month we would celebrate the students' birthdays of that month. We'd have cake, ice cream, and, in typical island fashion, a feast of asian and island food. Usually the birthday folks would have their own parties, so the celebrations continued for the rest of the month.

Everybody had such a great time together, I decided to make it a tradition for my birth month. Since I had alot of friends who were a part of different circles in my life and quite a few whose birthdays were in March, why not just get together at different times throughout the month? We couldn't all celebrate on one particular day, so guess what happens in the month of March? Movies and Chinese food on the 6th with my network engineering coworkers and friends, sushi and sake on the 15th with my tai chi buddies, karaoke and dancing with my hula sisters on the 22nd, dinner and dessert at the local Thai restaurant on the 31st with my Reiki teacher and fellow students. Not to mention all the cards, emails, and phone calls we exchanged.

Now that I'm in California(which wasn't exactly part of my Big Plan), I'd like to revive this tradition. Michela's birthday was last weekend and she got to enjoy some time at a spa. If there is anyone else who is celebrating this month and would like to take part, post a comment to the share of which day is yours and if there's a certain dessert or treat you enjoy. Not necessary to mention a birthyear, of course.

Yeah! Well, I agree with Jimmy Stewart. It is a wonderful life. Thank you all for sharing this moment in my life as a drop in the ocean of the Universe.

Namaste,

Lydia

1. Lydia Smith-Lenardson, Moreno Valley, California, USA
2. Lynn Wilson, Manchester, England, UK
3. Judy Oliver,Vienna, Virginia, USA
4. Joan Anderson, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
5. Wyatt Waro, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
6. Sandra Richer, Banff, Alberta, Canada
7. Lena Goon, Banff, Alberta, Canada
8. Mari Hayama, Berkeley, California, USA
9. Veronica Hansen, Sarina, Queensland, Australia
10. Mirjam Kik, Oude, Tonge, The Netherlands
11. Andy Cooper, Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China
12. Sheryl Morris, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
13. Andy Yantha, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
14. Karen Becker, Carver, Minnesota, USA
15. Linda Prucha, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
16. Joseph Bennett, Ventura, California, USA
17. Steve and Karen Edwards, Gunnislake, Cornwall, England
18. Rev. Patricia Lusher, Berlin, Vermont, USA
19. Brian Ramage, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
20. Brian Yeates, Dublin, Ireland
21. Dunni Olasehan, Lagos, Nigeria
22. Austin Ndego, Lagos, Nigeria
23. Michela Buornaguidi, Montecatini Terme (PT), Italy
24. Gurjinder Strom, Miami, Florida, USA
25. Natasha Adair, Olney Springs, Colorado, USA