There was an amusing end to a dinner party last night, where I was told by one of the other guests, that I was the weirdest person they had ever met. She did soften the message by saying I was lovely, but she reiterated the fact that I was well weird.
She had earlier been giving me the benefit of her advice regarding relationships, albeit through her rather alcoholic induced sense of self confidence. I think some of the others were amused by the whole thing, and I was happy to let her continue to tell me I was too thin, given her inebriated state.
The evening ended pleasantly, with the usual cordial goodbyes, but on the way home I got to thinking about just how weird I really am.
Given that I turned up with my own food, my own drink and on my own, that set me apart from most of the others. I was the only Buddhist, the only vegan, the only one drinking fruit juice and water and one of only two who didn’t smoke, but does that make me weird?
Now eating meat, cheese or puddings that are full of fat, drinking wine, beer or spirits and smoking doesn’t make anyone a bad person, but is it really that wise, considering all the evidence of the harm to which they all contribute?
The changes I had made to my own life have resulted in me being as calm, as fit and healthy, as trim and as happy as I have ever been. I am well aware that that makes me different to many others, but if that’s how it must be, I am really pleased that I am weird.
The advent of each day brings us joys and challenges, each of which have the ability to alter our life-state in some way. Joys tend to raise our life-state, challenges may lower it if we let them, and therein lies the conundrum. We need to be vigilant, to observe our life-state from moment to moment, but in doing so, we affect that life-state.
Every now and then it is a good thing to brush up on the basics. That applies to pretty much everything in life, be it academic, occupational, sporting or more especially spiritual. 
Many things happen in life. There are joyous days and times of suffering. Sometimes unpleasant things occur. But that’s what makes life so interesting. The dramas we encounter that are part and parcel of being human.
There is no self-improvement without effort.
Apart from my usual daily cycling workout, I’ve spent most of the day with my nose in a book, again. I’m not going to go into details, as I did yesterday, but the more I read, the more convinced I am that everyone should do likewise, so they can make up their own minds about the issues. You can get a taste of the topics covered by 
So many of the World Religions base their beliefs on a God, a Supreme Being, a Creator or an Entity whose existence is the focus of the religion’s belief.
I love the way this poem beautifully encapsulates the stages of learning, and the long, long road to enlightenment …
You know the saying about taking the rough with the smooth? Well life generally consists of a mixture of good times and bad times, happiness and sadness, health as well as sickness. In general, it is the ratio of these opposites that makes us feel that life is going well, or going badly.
Illusion about the true nature of existence is literally illusion about the nature of one’s own life. This is the fundamental source of all illusions.
The Search For Enlightenment 
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