A View on Buddhism

[WuMing426]

Here's Tashi and his big sister, Dorje, tonight, playing. She's the first to accept him. She's a good sister.

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A society will be judged by the way it treats its most vulnerable members- the animals. -Gandhi
Everything comes to pass, nothing comes to stay. -Matthew Flickstein
One who hates the feline is one not to be trusted.- Chinese proverb

[Jahda]

Aww, they are both so adorable Diane! You are such a good Mommy to them -- they are lucky to have found you!
_________________
To study the Way is to study the self.
To study the self is to forget the self.
To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.
To be enlightened by all things is to remove the barriers between one's self and others.

Dogen

[rampant ego]

Hey, Diane,

Thank you for this thread and for the stories of the ongoing rescues. And thank you, Frederica, for the reminder about the bodhisattva dog. This is one of those stories that gives evidence to the Buddhanature being in all sentient beings.

Since this has become a kind of animals thread and since I sometimes think birds can "hear" the mantras in my head as I'm riding to work sometimes, thought I'd share this here. It's what happened on my way to Target at the local mall--just a five minute walk away--to get toilet paper last Sunday evening after a rather mudane and lazy day.

I was waiting at the light to cross Gateway Ave., just marvelling at the neon pinks juxtaposed over the lavenders of the clouds as the sun had already set, letting out this last blast of light as it went. While I was standing there admiring this, I noticed that a flock of small birds had appeared up there and were flying around in one of those great, elongated patches I used to occasionally see when zipping by somewhere on the freeway. Woah. It was all rather fluid, what they were doing up there and I stood there admiring their flight as the new crosswalk signal assured me it was okay to space in it for a minute, uttering a flat "Wait," every five seconds. The birds would break up into a couple of groups, apparently having differing notions of just "where" they were going or "who" was leading.

When the crosswalk light changed, I was still gazing up at them, as they were basically above the mall itself. A young kid had come up and we were crossing together. I kept looking up as we were going, and he seemed to pause and look at me, but didn't look up. After we got to the other side, I said, "Are you seeing these birds, man?" He kind up looked up--they weren't all that impressive at that moment, really--and uttered an "umpf," or something to that effect. I kept watching them, though, because their density kept altering, flowing outward and inward, as they kept separating and flowing back into one another. I kept my eyes watchful on the traffic making its way through the parking lot, etc. At one point, I had to just stop and watch, mesmerized, really.

Part of the appearance of density or lack thereof was the angle of the birds themselves, whether I was seeing them full-on anteriorly or dorsally; part of it was due to their ever-shifting proximity to one another or to me; and, with their wings constantly flapping, there's the on-again, off-again appearance of them, givng emphasis to the varying densities. Moreover, while I was standing in the parking lot watching, appearing to others' viewpoint--so I imagined--like a schizophrenic receiving instructions from the heavens, one or two of the groups broke off into spheres, getting even more dense as they "swam" toward, then down and around the trees right outside of Cinemas 12. One group went another way but the one I watched landed in the top of the tree next to the one that they swam around, as though completing a rigorously rehearsed flow. I just kept looking up as people around me got into their cars, etc., ignoring me for the most part, though I think a woman who got into a car near me could've been watching the birds, letting her car idle as I started walking toward the far end of the mall toward Target, above which they'd gathered. I felt kind of special, like while all these people are walking around, tooling through the parking lot to head home from the movie or the shopping or seeking the ideal parking spot or whatever, here, I'd discovered something better than fireworks since the "order" involved in this amazing dance in the sky seemed momentary, tenuous, fluid, dynamic, a separating and coming together again like liquid mercury in a pan. At times, they became spheres with apparently empty centers which had developed out of, and then back into, a tornado-type funnel flow. This all felt like a vision of interdependence, of unity within individuality, of lila, of the dynamic of nature playing itself, of flight for the sake of its enjoyment, of a sharing of such an experience with one-another and with those fortunate enough to witness such simple, playful beauty.
,
Dan

[WuMing426]

Thank you, Dan, for the lovely story. You write very well. I always enjoy reading/hearing of other folks who have beneficial interactions with animals, regardless of which way that benefit may travel.
_________________
A society will be judged by the way it treats its most vulnerable members- the animals. -Gandhi
Everything comes to pass, nothing comes to stay. -Matthew Flickstein
One who hates the feline is one not to be trusted.- Chinese proverb

[Jahda]

This is a great story Dan. I agree with Diane, you really have a talent for writing! I can visualize the whole scene and suddenly feel very inspired to slow down and wake up the next time I'm taking a walk and really see what's going on around me...

Thank you for sharing this here with us!

Btw, what did you say the url of your blog is again? I'd love to follow along.
_________________
To study the Way is to study the self.
To study the self is to forget the self.
To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.
To be enlightened by all things is to remove the barriers between one's self and others.

Dogen