Just Deserts

07 Aug 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , ,

Mr Worry - Don't Do ItLeaving the works PC in a dishevelled state last night was not good for my peace of mind. But my fears of being left with an unusable machine for a week while Dan ‘the man’ went off to Barcelona on holiday proved to be unfounded.

With a laudable effort on all parts, particularly Dan’s, the machine is now honed to perfection and all ready to take on the challenges of the Fraser’s website restyling. Much of the work has already been done, all that is needed, and I say ‘all’ reservedly, is to incorporate said changes into the working copy, iron out any bugs and publish it to the server.

Worrying about things is such a pointless exercise. It takes energy, it lowers your life-state and achieves absolutely nothing. So don’t do it, I tell myself, but that’s easier said than done sometimes. What does work, and it works every time, is making the causes to create the effects we wish to see.

So as the old war-time song went, ‘what’s the use of worrying, it never was worthwhile; so, pack up your troubles in your old kit back and smile, smile, smile’. In my case that happens to be a rather battered old shoulder bag, but the principle still holds true.

What A Role Model

01 Aug 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Wiggo - Olympic GoldHuge, huge congratulations to Great Britain’s Bradley Wiggins for winning the gold medal in the Men’s Time Trial today at the London Olympics. His winning margin of over 40 seconds over Tony Martin, the German World Champion was nothing short of amazing.

Whilst all the excitement and focus will be on the medal winning performance, following on only ten days after his historic win in the Tour De France, it should not be forgotten that Bradley has put in a huge amount of training and personal sacrifice to make this all possible. Not that you would know it when you listen to interviews. A more down to earth fellow, it would be difficult to find.

Making the causes to bring the effects we wish to see is at the centre of Nichiren Buddhism and our routine of daily practice, although nothing like the physical effort of Mr Wiggins, is just as important if we are to progress along the path to enlightenment.

So enjoy the accolades Bradley, your efforts and sacrifices have paid off handsomely and you deserve all the plaudits you will receive. If there is a role model for us and others to try to emulate, Wiggo will be a very hard act to better. Congratulations are also due to Chris Froome, always the bridesmaid, never the bride, but a huge talent for the future, your time will come.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

11 Jul 2012 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , ,

Rain, Rain, Go Away - © Bridget Lemin 2012With the Meteorological Office reporting that June has been the wettest on record in the UK, I imagine that many of us are getting pretty cheesed off with the lack of a ‘proper’ summer.

Recently Wimbledon and now the London Olympics both rely quite heavily on reasonable conditions, so it will be interesting to see how the authorities cope with the unseasonal rain.

The economy could do with some fine weather too, the UK tourism industry needs a good summer to turn a profit, but the outlook looks rather bleak. Even our own holiday was not without a couple of days of rain, as you can see.

But we should all remember that life, in the form we know it, would not exist on Earth if it were not for water. Only weeks ago we were being told that there was a water shortage and that hosepipe bans would be with us all summer. For the poor weatherman, having to spread the news of doom and gloom each evening, it can’t be much fun either.

In the news today, the Environment Agency have issued a report, stating that the Government should plan for more ‘extreme weather’ brought on by man-made global warming. It cannot come as any surprise, we have been releasing increasing amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere for decades, and we all know the connection between cause and effect.

But as with all things in life, this is all part of a longer cycle of events. Remembering back to my childhood, the sun shone every day during the school summer holidays, it was always roasting hot during exam times and the Wheel of Life will turn again.

So let’s look on the bright side. As someone once said, there is no such thing as bad weather, just a poor choice of clothing. Whilst I sympathise with the poor souls who are watching their homes get ruined by flood water, we actually need the water. So like the Boy Scouts, be prepared, carry an umbrella, and remember that every cloud has a silver lining.

Slightly Sad Sunday

08 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Narrowboat Bumble - A Goal For The FutureSo that’s that, the holiday has been and gone. After all the planning, all the talking, packing, organising and travelling. After a really wonderful week afloat, during which we all got on like a house on fire, as expected. After all those fun times, going through locks, under lifting bridges, dodging all the other narrowboats and picking beautiful places for the evening mooring up. Even after all the sunshine and rain, it’s over.

I’ve always been of the opinion that it should be obligatory to have a week off after each holiday, just to give you time to get back into the swing of things. Sadly I doubt that any political party will ever table such a motion, even though it would be a great vote winner.

For me, the day started very slowly. Bumble managed to sneak out of bed without waking me, which is quite a feat as I am rather a light sleeper. By the time I got downstairs, she had already had her breakfast, started the washing and was cleaning and tidying, I felt rather ashamed that she was doing it all on her own.

I was keen to help, and did so by cracking on with the gardening jobs. The wet weather had done a great job of watering the runner beans and Steve and Andrew, the next door neighbours, had done the same with the tomatoes in the greenhouse.

Sadly, as I’m sure a few of you have also found, all these wet conditions have been perfect for our little slug and snail friends and they had munched a number of plants. The peas in the trough next to the front door hadn’t escaped attention, so I replaced the victims with the spares still growing in the greenhouse.

I also retrieved the hanging baskets from next door. They had been moved so that the boys could water them more easily, but with the weather being the way it has been, they admitted that the baskets hadn’t need watering at all.

Bumble’s bike needs some TLC after her son Sam had borrowed it recently. The crank bearings need replacing, but despite administering some gentle violence in trying to remove the pedals, I was unable to get to the guilty parts, so it will need a visit to the bike doctor to get repaired.

B had also been running out of steam early in the evenings last week, and we had discussed the possibility that she has an iron deficiency. So with time running out, we set off to the farm shop, to buy some liver, and see if that might help. En route we stopped off to buy some brioche which we had eaten toasted with paté at the Dusty Miller.

In all the rush, Bumble forgot to buy the liver, but we did have a lovely meal of toasted brioche and paté, with the obligatory salad, for dinner. After clearing up and taking a quick look through the photos on the PC, we decided that we were both pretty pooped so opted for an early night, after all, Monday mornings start pretty early when I have to drive back to Ringwood.

So a slightly sad Sunday, with both of us suffering a little from land-sickness after being on a moving boat for a week, and missing the tranquillity of canal life. But it’s nice to be home again, and as we all know, nothing lasts forever, does it?

I do have it in mind to buy our own narrowboat at some point and sail off into the sunset. So some sweet dreams to end the holiday, and a nice target to aim for in the future, now all we need to do is make the causes for the effects we want to see.

On Reflection

05 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Hurleston LocksI could actually feel the holiday slipping to a close today. Navigating back towards the marina, even though we still had another full day left, was a rather sad journey. Of course it did give us the chance to see all the sights of the outward leg anew, and from a different viewpoint.

The combination of the weather and the economy has made the canals rather quiet. And going back up through Hurleston locks was rather quicker than it had been yesterday, coming down. In fact we saw very few other people, other than the lock keeper.

In life, we rarely, if ever, get the chance to retrace our steps. Seldom do we get the chance to look at people and events from a different viewpoint. Circumstances change, people change and the effect of these changes distort the perception of past events.

But we can all relive our successes, and our failures, by playing them back in our mind. As I have changed over the last few years, I can now see the joys and sorrows in a new light. At times it is almost as though those things happened to another person, in another lifetime, and, given the chance, I might have done things differently.

But I remind myself, that every thought, word and deed I have had, said or done, have brought me to this point. Spending these last few days, in such close proximity to such lovely people, in such idyllic surroundings convinces me that my path is moving in the right direction.

Given the chance, I would not change a single thing, if the outcome would alter the situation in which I now find myself. Sometimes it is more important to concentrate on the present and the future, than to allow oneself to dwell on the past. The past is gone, we cannot rewrite our history, but we can, and we should, make causes to create positive effects on our present and particularly our future.

Excited Anticipation

28 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Canal LockIt’s funny isn’t it, how something you have been planning, thinking and talking about for ages suddenly appears just round the corner. Our much anticipated canal holiday, which was booked way back in the spring, starts tomorrow. Well ok, Saturday officially, but I’ll be wending my way up the A36 to Bristol tomorrow evening, ready to leave bright and early on Saturday morning, so that means our holiday starts tomorrow in my book.

Not that there’s that much to plan actually. We have to be up in Shropshire around noon to pick up the boat, then a trip to the supermarket for provisions. Some sort of induction follows, so we all know which end of the narrow boat is which and how to start, stop and steer it and then we’re off up the cut for seven days of fun.

I know that anticipation can lead to disappointment, but I think I’m fairly safe in this case, having three experienced ship-mates aboard. It’s the first holiday I’ve had in some little while and the first away with Bumble, so it will be a good test of where we are in the relationship.

Naturally, I’m chanting for a good outcome, good times, even for good weather, and I’m confident that things will go swimmingly. I just hope that none of us do too much of the swimming. So the packing is almost done, all ready to make a swift start after work tomorrow.

There’s an old saying that ‘there’s many a slip twixt cup and lip’ meaning that until something is complete, there’s still room for trouble. But in this case I think I have put all the causes in place to encourage a fortunate and pleasing outcome. Now where did I leave my captain’s cap?

A Fine Father’s Day

17 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Lady Boys of BangkokToday has been pretty perfect. It started with a family breakfast at the Porto Lounge in Fishponds. Apart from my son Stas, everyone was there. Charlotte and Rob, Hannah and Jay and all four grandsons, tucked up round a nice long table and seemingly taking over half the cafe, just brilliant.

The lads were all well behaved. Jake taking photos of everyone with his camera, Zach colouring in a picture B had found for him, Oliver doing the rounds of people’s laps and Stanley helping his granddad by eating the marshmallows off the top of my latte. So lovely to all be together, and not before time, actually we couldn’t remember the last Father’s day we spent time together, but the next time will be soon.

A quick trip over to pick up B’s mum and then back to Frenchay to see Ivor and deliver his card. Again, he was in good spirits and we had a nice time telling him about the breakfast and the choral evening. It’s always hard to leave him, but I think he was getting tired, so he was already dozing as we left.

While B took her mum home I mowed the lawn, then we tackled the rose arch together. Although roses are pretty and have a wonderful scent, those thorns are little devils. I have the war wounds to prove it. A quick shower, change and back out again to see The Lady Boys of Bangkok.

I’m not going to excuse myself by saying that they are a Buddhist act, even though they are. I was a bit sceptical when B told me that she had got tickets, but I was wrong, they were absolutely amazing. It was difficult to remember that all these gorgeous women on stage were actually all men, you would never have guessed.

So another brilliant day, fun and family in perfect harmony. On days like today it’s important to remember those who don’t happen to be so fortunate. But it is also important to realise that the causes we have made brought these effects about too.

A New Clear Reaction

30 Apr 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

We have lift offAs any physics student will tell you, for every action in the Universe, there is an equal and opposite reaction. It’s a law of physics, but also a law in Buddhism and a great way to track your progress. How can resistance be a good thing? It’s easy to think that it can’t. But actually, it’s a great way to measure progress.

As each action has this equal and opposite reaction, there can be no reaction without an action. So the reaction is a perfect indication that you have taken action. To borrow an example from The Buddha, Geoff and Me, let’s imagine an aircraft going down the runway.

As the plane increases speed, the wind resistance gradually increases. If the pilot reduces the power, the plane slows and the resistance reduces, but it won’t take off. If the pilot maintains the power, or increases it, the resistance builds, and the plane takes off, so the goal is achieved.

So feel good when the resistance builds against your actions, it is a good sign. Take heart, remain determined, keep the pressure on, increase your actions, never falter, and you too will reach your goal.

Stay Calm – See Results

16 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Oneness of Self and the EnvironmentHaving been a bit down over the last few days, I have put the chanting into overdrive. Not only has this raised my life-energy levels and put me in a much higher life-state, but it has improved my mood and my enthusiasm as a result.

It is also worth noting that it has also had a similar effect on those around me. Of course the principle of Oneness of Self and Its Environment predicts such effects, so I am not surprised. However, the magnitude of the effects has been slightly surprising, proving once again that the more you chant, the greater the effect. Simple cause and effect theory.

So with the weekend to look forward to, and being in exactly the right frame of mind to enjoy it, it should be a cracker. With a 70’s theme party to go to on Saturday night, it’s going to be fun choosing a costume. Then it’s off to Birmingham on Sunday with B and her mum, to see my mum for Mother’s day.

Staying calm, assessing the situation and my mind-set, taking the appropriate action has brought the desired results. Why am I not surprised, it works every time.

An Unexpected Failure

25 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

The gaiter is the bit that looks like a set of bellows ...Today was the day that all motorists dread, the annual MOT test, a day of anxiety and disappointment or elation. Sadly mine was one of disappointment. It’s a strange feeling, handing the keys over to a stranger, not that Tom at Volvo Poole is really that strange. But it’s a bit like leaving your kids with a new babysitter, you just hope that they know what they’re doing and take care of your pride and joy.

I knew that the car needed a new inner track-rod joint, it’s been on the cards for a while, but I had decided to bite the bullet and get it fixed before it caused any trouble. But when the dreaded phone call arrived, the news was not what was expected. The car had failed, a split steering gaiter being the culprit. So I had to agree to getting it replaced, there wasn’t really any alternative, they had my car and would hold it hostage until it had a pass certificate.

Now I do look after my car. I get it serviced at the dealership, use original parts when they are needed and generally give it a deal of TLC. So when it fell at the first hurdle, even though it was because of a part, so well hidden, I would never have spotted, it is disappointing. Of course I’m making a mountain out of a mole hill. The nice man at Volvo replaced the part and a nice crisp pass certificate duly appeared. All I had to do was hand over the dosh. However, and this is the interesting bit, having risen to the challenge of dealing with the failure in a calm and composed manner, I was rewarded by a generous 10% discount off the bill, both parts and labour. Cause and effect? Do you think?

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