hi joe... i have no way of finding a teacher..i must be my own teacher yes i do develop attachments...i am human..
. ...i do go backwards and i do dwell in the past...i reflect. .i think what if how come, if only..should i have...all that stuff. .and i create my own horror in the now and in the future..with the maybes etc.. ..i try to see this is not the way..i know in my heart of hearts this is not tao the way. .i do not dance on daffodils ..i tiptoe..i would never crush them. ..why this "hatred" of the dancing with the daffodils?. .it is only reflection of a sun filled mind..full of light..and openness and lightness of being. .otherwise it would be for me a dark murky dull grey... a doom a gloom...i know these places well.... i may develop attachments to optical vision ..but bare in mind joe..i transform what i see...i do not copy nature..i record my "feelings, my insights, my delights..do you get my drift? when buzz landed on the moon i was in the classroom teaching art..with the t.v on...yea.. . you are younger than me..i turn 67 on 23rd sept as for nature...she is my light what others think of nature? how do i know? i know what i know and that sums it up if my understanding of zen is so poor... i am still learning i listen and learn that is all i can do attachment desire... release me please i long for peace but do i have it? i long for love but do i have it? i long for knowing but do i have it? i await patiently for release all the best joe.. with love merle Hiya, Merle, Nonetheless, practice formally if you are able. If you are not able, then find some way to do it. ;-) It's as important as that. Life is a little bit short, nowadays. If you report-back that it is all B.S., then we'll understand that it is so, for you... once you have given it your ALL, with a good teacher, and sangha. But I think you'll have a more positive experience, and report. In fact, I worry that you may develop attachments, especially in the realm, or area, of the Optical-sense. But when I see the paintings that afterwards result, coming from your studio, THAT will assuage my concerns, probably, and bath me in balm, I am sure. And this is what I look forward to. Yet, it's not selfishness, on my part. And, I am not attached to the possibility. But I have hopes that EVERYONE who wishes to practice under the best conditions may have their wish, and will awaken. Not just because I have done it, and have had the wonder and miracle of this chance a number of times, as many of us have, in company with so many others throughout History, and among our intimate acquaintances: but, because so many others have *not*. I know what I'm wishing you, and others, I mean. Otherwise... may the veiled-life suffice! One can't disparage where we are. One can only either realize, or not realize. Realize means realizing where we are already, but being the most clear about it. That's not a movement to somewhere else, but it is a very, very big step, as momentous as the late Neil Armstrong's. Will you trust me, about this, in this? I was 17 when he and Buzz landed, and walked, and Mike Collins orbited, station-keeping for them. Life was different after that. I could write volumes about how. Maybe I'm a relic. Maybe, someday, to be appreciated. ;-) --Joe > Merle Lester <merlewiitpom@...> wrote: > > ..am i on track.????? >
