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In memory of Roxie

 In memory of Roxie At the borderlands of Dewachen, the pure land of Buddha Amitabha, there is a peculiar stretch of land. It is reserved mainly for the dogs of people who practice the Dharma. There are predominantly dogs on that land, but exceptions occur. Occasionally, one could see the glimpse of some well-behaved cats, who keep themselves to themselves, and even a snake or two could be found, after the story of the White Snake came to be known. The dogs have some memories of their humans reciting sadhanas and prayers, they remember the mantras whispered in their fluffy ears; the memories of the smell of burning incense lingers on the tips of their noses; the taste of the tormas they somehow managed to snatch from the shrine still coats their tongs. All those conditions accumulated together produce the little dog paradise in which everything is as it should be in the world of dogs: The tennis balls are there for a chase whenever needed, and when they fly, they murmur softly...
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Faith and renunciation are impermanent, so make a resolute promise to exert yourself


དད་པ་ དང་ངེས་འབྱུང་མི་རྟག་པས་དམ་བཅའ་བརྟན་པོ་ལ་བརྩོན།

'Faith and renunciation are impermanent, so make a resolute promise to exert yourself'

Exerting myself is not a distinctive feature of my character. Yesterday, however, while trying (yet again!) to get back to my Tibetan studies, I stumbled at this short sentence from the great 19th century Buddhist master, Patrul Rinpoche and it was a some kind of revelation. As revelations usually go, the thing to be discovered have been right in front of me all the time but I just never payed attention to it.

So, with that revelation in mind, I decided to revive my journal and treat it like a diary. I will write in it whatever comes my way. Inspiration comes and goes but for sure it never materialises unless the person takes the pen and writes the words down. This reminds me of the recent interview of Bob Dylan for Wall Street Journal. He is talking about computers and how they could help with creativity. They can ‘get you over the hump’, he says, ‘but you have to get up early’. 

Of course, the exertion Patrul Rinpoche talks about concerns matters, much more important that writing useless thoughts on paper, but who knows: even small things like that can make a difference for someone. Even if that person is just me.

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