loving gaze

Lately, we have been watching quite a lot of NHK channel features on Japan. Much of what we see is very interesting. They seem to take great care in preparing the shows. So the shows seem well thought out and orderly. Perhaps this is part of their culture. Minimalist, go for less than more. Enjoy the smaller, finer bit sizes. Prepare with great care to the detail.  We see this in their kimono-making, which looks like art in the making. We also see this in the way they will prepare a sushi dish. A maki dish. Or any type of food. While the show is going on, the music is soft and quiet in the background. Not loud and glaring. Sometimes just strumming of a string instrument. The setting is usually neat. Uncluttered. Then the camera focuses on one activity at a time. Usually there is no talking. Just the music and the actions. This channel is good for when you want to wind down before sleeping. If ever there are narrators or someone emceeing the show, usually their voice is soft spoken....

It has been a number of years already that I have been engaging in zen sitting. What got me started was just a curious interest in what meditation practice is all about. I had signed up for yoga upon the prodding of my sister, and I noticed a zen meditation session in one of the schedules. It turns out that sitting in silence, emptying the mind, resonates deeply with me.  Much of our day is busy. Just like the slogan, "Citi that never sleeps", our mind seems to never rest when we are awake. If not about work, or home affairs, then it could be about the current news or latest issues. Even during this pandemic, even if we are in our own homes and see less people, I find that there is still just so much to be busy with.  The zen sits have come to be necessary medicine to quiet the mind. What better way to start the day than with quiet, gradual movement of the mind.   Zen sitting for at least twenty minutes, and then morning prayer. Or, daily examen. The combination of these ...

I chose this photo because it is so full of life, and I want to hold this forever within me, to the last breathe I breath on this earth. These days, my awareness has heightened that this is the last third of my life. I have already lived two-thirds. this is the final third. I am hoping that this will be the best.  But what is the meaning of best? The happiest? the most peaceful? The most empowered? The closest to God, family and friends? The most meaningful in terms of contribution to other peoples' lives?  I would say, all of the above, and much more. What I realise I desire most deeply is simply summed in three words: Union with Him.  Dearest Beloved Lord, May our hearts be ONE. Give me your eyes, your ears, your touch. Give me your mind, your will. Your Heart. What greater joy is there than this?  Perhaps I am saying this without fully understanding what this means. Perhaps this consolation just flows in ...

Do not stand at my grave and cry I am not there. I do not die. I am in a thousand winds that blow, I am the gentle showers of rain. - Mary Elizabeth Frye When I learned from the online Sunday mass that someone I used to know in college had passed away, I felt quite sad. Although we had almost no more contact in the four decades that had passed since graduation, certain fond memories of conversations with him came to mind. More than anything that was said between us during those very young years, it was the essence of his person that seemed to come to life in memory. His genuine humility, his gentle manner, his deeper love and appreciation of philosophy, his wonder about and quiet openness to people, his candid reflections about family and about life. He had an aura of freshness, like gentle rain that falls on soft grass on a quiet early morning.  The last and only time that we had ever exchanged more than a greeting throughout the many decades that have passed was when I ...