A Moving Experience

28 Jul 2012 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

A Moving ExperienceFollowing the emotional challenges of yesterday, today we had a far more down to earth set of goals to achieve, namely moving B’s son Sam and his partner Georgie into their new house in Kingswood.

Not that moving furniture is generally such a problem, but when it’s someone else’s property and you have no idea what is in each box, or where it should be put, it does get a little more tricky.

Fortunately, baby Merrin was round at Georgie’s mum’s house, so we were able to leave doors open and move around without worrying about her escaping or getting tangled up in the bits of dismantled bed, wardrobes or cupboards.

It took us a while, even though there were six of us on the case. The weather was kind, even a little too warm for humping and lifting maybe, but by mid afternoon we were able to leave Sam and Georgie to get on with the onerous task of putting everything in its rightful place, another challenge met and a job well done by all.

All that is left to do is to wish the couple all the very best in there new abode and hope that they are very happy. I’ve done a bit of chanting to that effect, so everything should go to plan.

Just Before Dawn

19 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

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

They say that things are the darkest just before dawn, but I would suggest that this is not always the case. When people are under intense pressure, as we all are at the moment, that darkest moment can come at almost any point.

Our Fundamental Darkness, my Dark Passenger, can have a field day when we are tired, emotional and stressed out by Ivor’s situation. Whilst the trick is to keep a wary eye on the little devil, it is also of paramount importance that we maintain our compassion for each other too.

Ivor remains comfortable, sedated and pain free, but there cannot be any improvement, so we are still keeping our 24 hour bedside vigil, supported by the marvellous staff at Frenchay hospital. Although Ivor is not a Buddhist, his wife Jill is, so please send Daimoku, if you can, to help her through this most difficult of moments.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Catching Up

14 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Catching UpHaving a weekend at home has given me chance to catch up with all the things that get left behind while I’m up in Bristol with Bumble. So today has been a day of making good all the missing posts on my blog, washing all the clothes from the holiday, not all fun stuff I’m sure you’ll agree.

But it’s also been great to be able to chant in front of my Gohonzon. I enjoy, if that is the right word, chanting anywhere, as you may have seen from my Chanting in the Dark post. But I have to say that having the Gohonzon in front of me does seem to make it more relevant.

Now that may sound a little trite, but I imagine the same might be said for people praying in church, rather than by kneeling next to their bed. I think it is probably more to do with the focus of my practice, rather than any inherent power in the scroll itself.

Anyway, there is a certain satisfaction in getting the chores up square. It was also nice to be able to sit and watch the Tour de France live without feeling guilty. But given the choice, I would choose spending the weekend with Bumble over doing the washing, and I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear that.

And Relax

13 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

And RelaxFollowing yesterday’s cancelled meeting, I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive about the group meeting planned for today. For me, not knowing about a situation is often far worse than the reality turns out to be.

We do work pretty hard, as a team, to keep the wheels of the company’s IT systems well oiled. Sometimes it involves out-of-hours tasks, simply because we can’t do admin in the middle of the working day, sometimes it is a fire fighting exercise, when a website decides to go AWOL, or a hacker decides to try his luck at breaking in.

So when the governor told us that we were going to have our group meeting, and cover the discussions he had with the other department yesterday, a million questions started whizzing around my brain.

The meeting was to be held in a nice quiet local hostelry, so at least the environment was pleasant. But then their Wi-Fi wasn’t working, so we couldn’t go through the discussion points as we had no access to our back office systems. It was a fairly quite, but very tasty lunch, but the questions remained.

So cutting our offsite visit a little short, we reconvened in the boardroom back at the office to hear what Guy had to say. I don’t think I was the only one wondering what he had in store for us. So when it turned out to be a case of miss, or lack of, communication, we gave a collective sigh of relief.

Lesson learned, there is little or no point worrying about issues that it transpires, don’t actually exist. Pointless getting stressed about an imagined set of circumstances, and less than productive to try to second guess the outcome of anything, given little or no information to go on.

We do need to improve our processes, hone our interdepartmental communications, and fine tune our planning strategies. But as far as the worrying was concerned, it was a sad waste of time and effort. I must try harder next time, to remember the lessons of today.

Nice lunch though!

Biting My Tongue

12 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Biting My TongueCommunication is the key to resolving issues, whether that is in a domestic or a work environment. So when we heard that there was a meeting planned for this morning, to iron out some issues between us, the IT team, and another department, I was looking forward to putting our point of view across.

Unfortunately, for reasons unknown at present, the meeting was cancelled, so the opportunity was lost, for the time being at least. Whilst it is not in my remit to resolve such issues, it benefits all concerned if they can be addressed and some form of compromise reached quickly.

I guess I will have to bite my tongue until we get another opportunity to meet. But I’m also hoping that the issues and the feelings that they generate will not escalate in the mean time. A little wisdom, courage and compassion on both sides will help prevent that happening, so fingers crossed that all three are in abundance.

When Reality Bites

09 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

When Reality BitesAfter a wonderfully restful, not to say enjoyable week away, it was time to return to the coal face and get back to reality. But with fully recharged batteries, the usual Monday morning drive wasn’t so bad after all. The weather was kind, the traffic was light and the chanting along the way, more than effective.

Getting back behind my PC was not the trial it might have been, the team had done a good job of minding the shop, and the usual pile of emails was not as high as it might have been. I was straight out of holiday mood and had my business head on.

Routine, at work, in life in general and as my practice gives me a solid structure with which to take on the challenges that life presents. Whether that is something as trivial as getting over the first day back at work after a holiday, or some of the more important problems, my practice helps turn the poison into medicine.

Little Chef

04 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Little ChefAsk anyone who knows me, I’m not the greatest cook on Earth, and openly admit it. But I’m always up for a challenge. So when I was told, before the holiday, that everyone was expected to cook an evening meal for the crew, my heart sank a little.

Bumble is a very kind lady, and she was as determined as I was, to turn me into a little chef, if only for one day. So before we set off to Shropshire, we put our heads together to come up with a meal that could be prepared in limited circumstances and with even more limited experience.

You might have thought, that having lived alone for a couple of years, I would have honed my culinary skills to perfection. Sadly that is not the case. I am fine at the simplest meals, beans on toast, the odd pasta dish, but nothing more taxing. That just wouldn’t cut it with the SAS, Steve is a rather fussy eater, as he’d openly admit, so we had to be a little creative.

B helped me make the choice. I had chicken breasts, soft cheese, a choice of herbs and spices and some rindless bacon. So I decided to make something tasty, a dish that would tickle the taste buds, and a sweet and spicy mix that would be easy, if not quick to prepare.

My chicken breasts, filled with soft cheese and diced chilli, glazed with mango chutney and wrapped in the bacon rashers turned out perfectly. Bumble was fair but firm with me, making sure that the timings were spot on, so the meat and the roast vegetables came together perfectly. The choice was decided and I was feeling much more confident, it tasted fantastic and B was very complimentary.

So tonight I had my chance to shine, but equipment failure looked set to scupper my efforts. The propane gas oven just wasn’t up to the challenge and stubbornly refused to get up to temperature. So with a lot of help from all concerned, the chicken was cooked using the tiny microwave and then finished off in a vaguely warm oven.

But though I say so myself, the dish turned out perfectly. The chicken, that could easily have come out as dry as a bone, was simply delicious. The parma  ham, that had been substituted for the bacon, held the parcels together as intended and the mango chutney worked wonderfully as a sweet glaze, contrasting and complimenting the spicy filling.

The whole experience was a bit of a trial, the equipment failures had put a lot of stress on the process. But with a great deal of help from Bumble, as well as very welcome support from Sue and Steve, it turned out well in the end.

So having met the challenge head on, having kept my cool, at least for some of the time, I’m rather proud of the outcome. We all experience challenges in life. Many, if not most of them, far more important than cooking a meal. But the lesson learned today was one of perseverance, determination, team work and self improvement, and it will serve me well, way into the future.

All Shapes And Sizes

03 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Challenges Come In All Shapes And Sizes - Wrenbury lifting bridgeChallenges come in all shapes and sizes as we all know. However, few can come much bigger, physically, than the Wrenbury lifting bridge. A lifting bridge is, as you might imagine, a bridge that can be raised to allow the narrowboat to pass underneath. Unlike any other lifting bridge we encountered, this one had a fairly main road crossing it, and had to be controlled by hydraulics, rather than by winding.

As the newbie to cruising canals amongst our group, it was just another piece of canal hardware that needed to be learned, but no one else had seen this type of machinery either. So when I was despatched to open the bridge as we came into Wrenbury, I took a windlass and set off to crank away as usual.

However, there was a shock in store. No winding gear, no instructions at all, apparently, just a motley collection of battleship grey boxes next to the bridge. Finally I found the control panel. The instructions might as well have been in Egyptian hieroglyphics and the buttons to operate the hydraulics were hidden under a Perspex cover that had been lovingly polished with wire wool, making it almost opaque.

Then I realised that I needed the British Waterways key to activate the panel, and that was on the boat key ring, in the ignition, back on the boat, a hundred yards back up the canal. It also transpired that the barrier that blocked the open side of the canal, while the bridge was up, needed to be closed manually before anything else would function. A proper contender for a test on the Krypton Factor if ever there was one.

Fortunately, Steve, who had been in the shower when I left the boat, had now joined me on the towpath, so while he man-handled the barrier, I ran back to the boat to get the key. Together we got things sorted, the bridge opened, the ignition key was returned to the boat, and the challenge was met.

At the time, I was a little flustered by the whole episode. Not only did I feel that I had let my shipmates down a little by my incompetence, but I had also held up the traffic longer than was comfortable. But on reflection, and having talked through the debacle with the gang, I felt better about the situation.

When we meet new situations, we need to use a combination of wisdom, courage and compassion, in varying degrees. I would like to think, and the guys seemed to agree, that given the circumstances, I did ok. At least when we need to raise the bridge again on our way back, we will be better equipped to make a better job of it.

So another challenge met, another lesson learned, more poison turned into medicine and another step taken on the path to enlightenment.

Day And Night, Night And Day

26 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Recharge The BatteriesBeing responsible for the smooth running of our websites is a barrel load of laughs at times. In the last few days, we have been getting service outage alerts about every fifteen minutes from the company that monitors the sites for us. Whilst it is good to know that something is amiss, once you know about it, and know that there is rather little that can be done internally, it all gets a little ‘old news’.

Challenges are put before us to test us. To allow us to take up that challenge and work with it to make ourselves stronger. When, however, that challenge goes on day and night for days on end, your spirits start to flag as you begin to feel the lack of decent sleep taking hold.

This is where the Nichiren secret weapon of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo comes in handy. Chanting really does boost the energy levels and puts a spring back in your step. By my reckoning, half an hours chanting, at lunchtime, on the way to or from work, or in the short periods of stillness in the evening, is as good as a couple of hours decent sleep.

So, as you might imagine, I have been finding a quiet corner in my lunch hour and ignoring the strange looks I get in the car, so I can recharge my batteries with copious amounts of chanting. Though I can’t actually say that the accompanying prayers have an instant effect in an IT environment, boosting my practice at such times certainly does invigorate and rejuvenate my spirits. That has to be a good thing for all concerned.

Croissants and Canal Boats

24 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

The Canal In The SkySunday morning, and the SAS arrive. No not that Army lot with their blacked-out faces and rubber dinghies, but Sue and Steve in their black Passat, all ready for a croissant laden breakfast and a canal holiday planning meeting. We’re off to Shropshire in a few days, to take charge of a narrow boat and cruise the Llangollen canal, come hell and high water.

Now Bumble, Sue and Steve are old hands at this sort of thing. To them a lock is a way of changing level along a canal, not two users trying to access the same data or the thing I put my front door key in, as it is in my world. Despite the water being only a few feet deep, I sense I’m out of my depth already.

Actually, I’m really looking forward to the challenge. Not the challenge of learning about locks and boats, knots and navigation and the like. The challenge of getting around a narrow boat with Steve around, who was never designed with narrow boats in mind. He’s a proper, old fashioned, jolly giant, so I’m sure we will get to know each other all too intimately during the seven days afloat.

I have to say, that I have been having a few reservations about the trip. For one, we will be going over the Pontcysyllte aqueduct at Trevor. When Thomas Telford and William Jessop opened the aqueduct a month after the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, it was the tallest canal boat crossing in the world and at 126ft (over 38 metres) high it is still an impressive and buttock clenching structure.

I’m also going to be thrown in at the deep end, figuratively I hope, in terms of being out of my comfort zone, with no experience of canal navigation whatsoever. But as they say (whoever they are), feel the fear and do it anyway. We are hoping for at least a day or two of good weather, though North Wales is better know for its lush green valleys than its sun-soaked beaches, so a fair deal of chanting is required before we cast off.

Naturally, being immersed in the Welsh countryside, blogging may prove to be another challenge. But be assured that I will post as often as connectivity allows, and fill in any missing bits when we return to ‘civilisation’. With a maximum speed of 4mph, it going to be a great excuse to chill out and take things nice and slow.

Time will tell whether the natives, and my fellow crew members take kindly to me chanting from the bow (the pointy end apparently) first thing in the morning. So if you hear a loud splash and the blogging stops abruptly, you’ll know what’s happened. Please tell my kith and kin I loved them all dearly.

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