Lumps And Bumps

15 May 2012 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Lumps and BumpsIf you ride a bicycle on UK roads, you’ll know how lovely it can be to find yourself on a stretch of nice smooth new tarmac. The lumps and bumps of our older repaired roads really can rattle your bones, so the new surface is a real treat.

Life is like that too. It’s the lumps and bumps of everyday life that make you realise just how comfortable the smooth untroubled times are. But without the rough times, we would never recognise the comparison and enjoy the easier times all the more.

We all know that as we move through life, it is impossible to stay on the smooth untroubled path. The bumpy times are a simple fact, just as they are out on the road. So when they come along, just be determined, hold on tight, keep pedalling and look forward to the smoother times ahead.

Illusions

14 May 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

The Penrose TriangleWhile the ‘real’ world is out there, all around us, in physical form, ‘our’ world is contained within the amazing structure we call our brain. Whilst we can process, interact with and interpret the events and objects around us, our brains are guilty of playing tricks on us if we do not keep a close eye on them.

Our brains are amazing things, I think we can all agree on  that. But they are also capable of making the simplest of mistakes. Take a look at the image above. Each angle looks like a perfectly plausible part of a three dimensional triangle, but as you move from one angle to the next, it becomes clear that the object we perceive is, in fact, an illusion.

Our brains are programmed by evolution, to make sense of partial information. Being able to recognise a Sabre-Toothed Tiger from just a small part of his outline would be a very valuable asset to pre-historic man. But being able to recognise a scenario from a handful of unrelated, or even imagined mental clues, can lead us right up the garden path, to completely the wrong conclusion.

Imagination, illusion and our Fundamental Darkness are all facets of real life, but beware of leaning too heavily on one or all of these when you are piecing together your next mental jigsaw puzzle, you might find you are confronted by an unpleasant picture that is wholly inaccurate.

Our Little Helper

13 May 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Robin RedbreastFeeling a little the worse for wear after last night’s party, I was grateful for all the help I could get digging the vegetable plot. I say vegetable plot, but that is overstating the fact just a little. In fact when we started digging the ground over, it was simply another part of a cottage garden, thick with all manner of flowers, weeds, herbs and trees.

Some of the larger plants, a Sage and a Lavender in particular took some shifting, and there was a lot of chopping and hacking needed to move the roots and stems that had been growing there for decades. The scent of the herbs filled the air as the work progressed and the sun beat down. Naturally, Bumble got stuck in, undaunted by the physicality of the work, despite protestations for her to stop before her neck got injured again.

As the patches of dark earth started to appear from under the morass of tangled foliage, a little flash of brown and red caught my eye. There, on one of the branches of the blossom laden Crab Apple tree, was a tiny little Robin, eagerly scanning the soil for worms, grubs and other tasty morsels.

At first we stood motionless as the little bird flew down and started gathering up a crop full of goodies. But he, or she, didn’t seem at all bothered by our presence and, after a few minutes, we got back to our digging. For the rest of the afternoon, and into the early evening, the tiny creature fluttered and hopped around between the ever growing patches of soil, being most attracted to the freshly tilled earth, with its recently unearthed pantry and coming within inches of us, over and over again.

Each time it had gathered as many goodies as it could carry, it flew off in the same direction, presumably towards its nest. Now I’ve had Robins ‘help’ me in the garden before, but this episode was so rewarding, a real privilege to be allowed to interact so intimately with a beautiful part of nature in such a bond of trust. It all served to make an afternoon of toil into a very pleasant chapter in the growing story of Greystones.

A Rockin’ Good Evening

12 May 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

A Rockin’ Good EveningHaving spend the day doing ‘stuff’, it was great to let our hair down (not that I have much) going to Phil’s 50th ‘open mike’ evening at a pub in Fishponds. With so much talent and so much fun, the evening flew by so by the time the pub closed, and we found ourselves sitting outside in the beer garden, we were well into Sunday morning.

I like to think that I can play guitar a bit, but seeing people who devote a large proportion of their lives to making music, I have to admit that I’m a rank amateur. The diversity of the performances was amazing. Everything from Pink Floyd to the one humorous classic ‘There’s a hole in my bucket’ were done, and all received rapturous applause.

Being ‘Johnny Come Lately’ in B’s circle of friends, I always wonder whether I will fit in. But in typical style, everyone was lovely and made me feel more than welcome. So a truly rockin’ good evening was had by all and it was a fitting celebration of a milestone birthday. Happy birthday Phil, let’s hope there are many, many more to come.

Flippin’ Friday

11 May 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

computer_codeHaving been in IT for all my working life, I should know better, but it still annoys the hell out of me when computers mess with my life. I’ve been working on a redesign project for one of our websites and my desktop decided it knew better than I did when it came to the general look and feel of the site.

Basically, it minimalized the content by losing all the references to the images and text across the whole site. Naturally, this made the pages much quicker to load, but also made the site a little too simplistic. Finally, I have been able to fix the underlying problem, but that leaves the onerous task of adding all the content back into the site.

Other aspects of life can be like that. If I ever lost my mobile, or my iPad went AWOL, half my life would go with them. We all record names, addresses and other details such as birthdays on these nice shiny bits of hardware, in the vain belief that their memories are better than ours, but on some occasions they aren’t.

Somewhere, filed neatly in one of the drawers at home, I have a piece of A4 paper with my entire families names, addresses, birthdays and anniversaries. My Mom painstakingly wrote them down for me years ago, and although I have no real idea where the paper is, I know for sure, that if I find it, it will still have the details recorded.

So even though it’s Friday, and the weekend is just round the corner, it’s not been the best day of the week so far. As with most days, there are lessons to be learned, and mine for today is to make sure everything is backed up in such a way that I can recreate a site from scratch, even when everything looks secure. You just never know do you?

NIMBY Central

10 May 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

Gypsy CaravanThere was a little surprise waiting for us when we all arrived at work this morning, a group of travellers had set up camp in the office car park overnight. Ordinarily, the people I work with are polite, well mannered folk, but this situation has brought of the worst in many of them.

I’m sure we’ve all seen the stories about travellers on TV, or heard about things that have happened when they are in the vicinity, but I’ve never had any contact with any myself, so any impression is via third party stories. So I am happy to leave these folks in peace, in truth, apart from a bit of litter, they seem to be behaving themselves.

These people choose, or are born into, a life on the road. It’s well documented, that there are too few council sites around the country, so one can only imagine that they are forced to find impromptu sites of their own. Being next to the Bickerley Mill stream and open fields, they certainly couldn’t have chosen a more picturesque place.

The reaction of some of my colleagues has been a bit of an eye-opener. I suppose the fear of the unknown can make people say things they might usually not. Nobody wants to find that their car has been damaged or run the risk of verbal abuse from a complete stranger, but I wonder whether the media has painted an accurate picture of these people.

My hope is that the travellers prove the media reports wrong, that they go about their business in a peaceful manner and move on, in time, without incident. I also hope that my colleagues come to realise that these folks are human too, and treat them with the respect they deserve. After all, but for an accident of birth, we might be the ones sitting out in the caravans in the rain.

Changing Times

09 May 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

The Byrds - Turn, Turn, TurnEverything in life changes, one of the main principles of Buddhism is that of impermanence the idea that nothing lasts forever. But these changes have a natural order, a structure that, if observed, make the changes simple and easy. If however, we fail to observe that order, things get difficult, uncomfortable, even unbearable.

Those of us of a certain age remember a song by The Byrds, Turn, Turn, Turn, written by Pete Seeger, the words of which are actually based on a passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes and are sometimes attributed to the wise Old Testament ruler King Solomon.

I think the lyrics perfectly explain the manner in which changes and The Wheel of Life are inextricably linked:

To every thing, turn, turn, turn
There is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
To everything, turn, turn, turn
There is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven
A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together
To everything, turn, turn, turn
There is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven
A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing
To everything, turn, turn, turn
There is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late

Tranquillity

08 May 2012 2 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

TranquillityOfficially, today was Tuesday, but in computer speak it was actually Monday++. With the extra day off, the weekend just meant that the pile of work waiting for me when I got into the office this morning was 50% bigger than a normal Monday, and you know how I feel about them. So it was all hands on deck and the day passed without a break, ironically at break-neck speed.

So by the time 5:00 o’clock arrived I was in need of some peace and quiet. Fortunately, the stream behind the office is exactly the right place to find such an environment, so before diving into the car and setting off for MQ, I took several long minutes to just stand and chant in the evening sunshine, watch the quiet waters flow past, and let my mind find its equilibrium as the trials and tribulations of the day drifted away with the shining lazy current.

If we are to deal with the challenges of every day life, it is important to take a deep breath, inhale the quieter side of life, and release the stress that builds up inside. Next time you find yourself feeling agitated, stressed out, or getting submerged beneath the everyday strains that life puts upon us, find a quite spot, take time to stand still and just let those anxieties drift away.

Far from being a waste of time, they may be the most important minutes of your day.

A Right Pain In The Neck

07 May 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

A Right Pain In The NeckBy this morning we were supposed to have ticked all the boxes on the to-do list and had planned to take a trip to Bristol Zoo with Charlotte, Rob and the boys, if the weather was dry. So apart from the fact that there were still unfinished items on the list and that it was raining cats and dogs intermittently, Bumble had a very sore neck, the result of overdoing the manual work during the path construction.

A day that was going to be filled with the wonder of beautiful animals and the fun of being with C & R and the three boys, turned into one of pain and anguish. The neck problem is a legacy of a whiplash injury many years ago, but B, being B, just has to get involved with the lifting and carrying, despite being a bit prone to aches, pains and injuries.

Being the real trooper she is, she insisted on coming with me to get a few things from the shops, when she should really have been tucked up, snug and warm, in bed, being pampered by yours truly. Not a chance really, though I did manage to get her to rest when we got back home. and I think the toasted cinnamon and raisin bagel and mug of hot tea was pretty well received.

We can both learn lessons from the episode. B has to learn to take things a little bit easier when it comes to heavy manual work. She’s no old granny, although she is a granny, but nor is she the spring chicken she might like to think she is. I have to learn to look out for, and after her, though sadly I didn’t know about the neck injury until today.

Fortunately the pain is subsiding, with the help of a few painkillers. But the whole debacle could so easily avoided if we had both taken a large dose of wisdom before we started the project. It won’t happen again, I’ll see to that.

Pure Talent

06 May 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Click here to see more of Liz's workSunday is supposed to be the day of rest, but in true Greystones tradition, it was a mixture of work and play. After a slightly later start than yesterday we got on with a few little jobs, little in stature, but as always, bigger in reality, all taking longer than expected.

The highlight of the morning was a visit from B’s friend Liz. She’s a hugely talented lady, an artist and a professional violinist. The sort of person who oozes creativity and who is in the fortunate position to be able to live in a beautiful part of the country, whilst making her living doing things she truly loves.

The highlight of the afternoon was choosing the plants for the hanging baskets for the front of the Cottage. There are so many beautiful plants, but so little room to pack them in, so some difficult choices had to be made. Having decided that we would plump for a pinky purple colour scheme, it narrowed the field down a fair bit.

Having found a selection of tall and short, upright and trailing plants, it was great fun mixing the compost and getting down and dirty in the greenhouse. We had a little battle with the planting. B wanted to go all random, but I wanted them to match. So we came to a compromise of a matching pair of random baskets.

We gave them a good dousing and apart from actually hanging them on the wall they are ready to look beautiful for the whole summer. It’s lovely ‘creating’ a feature out of plants and flowers. Even a klutz like me can make a beautiful display when you have nature’s perfection to work with. When they are fixed in place and looking lovely, I’ll post some pictures so you can enjoy them too.

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