A haiku and miksang together this week. (If you’ve no idea what I’m talking about you need to check out last week’s post).
January is a difficult month isn’t it?
Beginnings are always awkward, full of expectations. The ‘ghosts on the path’ of previous January’s expectations reappear. Best not to pay them any attention.
Go to ground, hibernate, germinate, be still. Be like nature, wait it out. See what new shoots emerge with spring - see with fresh eyes - develop a perception which ‘pierces through the facile complacency of our usual encounter with the world.’1
Whoever you may be: step into the evening.
Step out of the room where everything is known.
Whoever you are,
your house is the last before the far-off.
With your eyes, which are almost too tired
to free themselves from the familiar,
you slowly take one black tree
and set it against the sky: slender, alone.
And you have made a world.
It is big
and like a word, still ripening in silence
And though your mind would fabricate meaning,
your eyes tenderly let go of what they see.
Rilke
Our minds cloud our perceptions. And our perceptions form our minds. It’s why we make habits, assumptions and find it difficult to see through tricky problems.
We need to see with fresh eyes. That means looking and listening deeply. Sensing directly. Giving life attention.
Life with full attention
We can cultivate direct skilful attention. Don’t you want to live life as fully, richly and meaningfully as possible? The London Buddhist Centre are running an 8 week in person and online course called Life with Full Attention starting on 15 February. It is based on the excellent book by Maitreyabandhu (who was one of my first meditation teachers over 25 years ago). The course covers:
Day-to-day mindfulness - the mindfulness of small, everyday things, and how setting up positive routines can make a real difference.
Awareness of the body.
Awareness of how our experiences feel.
Awareness of our states of mind, the impact that they have, and how we can work with them.
Appreciating art and nature.
Awareness of other people.
Awareness of the true nature of reality.
Not another journal
I bought a five year one line a day memory book. Each day, each year there is only room enough for one line, one important thing, a haiku maybe or just one thought, one feeling. It’s not a journal, not a diary, just a small space to write one thing which I can return to over five years to see what has changed or shifted each year, like a life travelogue.
Last year I bought a personalised diary. It was a thing of beauty. Almost too beautiful. I wrote in it for a while, but I found there was too much space to write, it felt too precious, so I am scaling down.
Wabi Sabi Life Reading Group
Did you know we now have a reading group? We have one book a month to explore read and discuss. They are all related to Japanese culture and other themes explored here on this column.
Our book for January is Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi.
As the only woman in her office, Ms Shibata is expected to do all the menial tasks. One day she announces that she can't clear away her coworkers' dirty cups - because she's pregnant and the smell nauseates her. The only thing is . . . Ms Shibata is not pregnant.
Pregnant Ms Shibata doesn't have to serve coffee to anyone. Pregnant Ms Shibata isn't forced to work overtime. Pregnant Ms Shibata can rest, watch TV, take long baths, and even join an aerobics class for expectant mothers. But she has a nine-month ruse to keep up. Before long, it becomes all-absorbing, and with the help of towel-stuffed shirts and a diary app that tracks every stage of her 'pregnancy', the boundary between her lie and her life begins to dissolve.
To join in download the Threadbable app a new social reading platform (only available on iPhone at present) and use this invite code: 45281.
Gratitude
Thanks for reading. Writing Wabi Sabi Life takes time. If you want to support my work you could buy me a coffee or become a paid subscriber.
Bikkhu Bodhi