Buddha's Five Remembrances

A Buddhist friend recently reminded me of these 5 principles of Buddhist thinking.  On the one hand, they can seem daunting and even pessimistic or at the very least unpleasant.  But as I think further about them, they are oddly reassuring to me.  The absolute worst IS going to happen to all of us.  That doesn’t mean that we should start sucking our thumbs and crying “It isn’t fair!” just now.  It means recognizing that we are all caught in the “inescapable web of being” as we UUs like to say.

This is not say that these truths are easy to swallow… but since they are true, it seems that we must at least taste, if not accept them.  How would you live differently if you embraced these 5 remembrances from the Buddha?

1.   I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.

2.   I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape having ill health.

3.   I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.

4.   All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.

5.   My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

If we accept these remembrances as true, it seems to somehow allow me some freedom.  Since I am going to die, get ill, lose everything,   why not choose to live loud and proud and joyfully RIGHT NOW?

Intuitive Collage

I have been playing around with something called intutitive collage. There are lots of ways to do this, but I have enjoyed the process I have settled on of late! Because composition books are seriously on sale right now, I've bought myself several for $.99 lately! Iuse them for all sort of things. One I use for my daily 10 minutes of free writing. I just date the page, set a timer for ten minutes and make myself start writing and not stop until the timer goes off. I am doing this in this cheap little notelbook which I think makes me feel freer to write whatever comes to mind. Knowing that I will likely just toss the whole book when I finish it. I then go on to my "real" journal (another 99 cent composition book which I have made beatuiful by pasting a picture on the cover!!) It is where I write my poems.

But, back to intuitive collage. In yet another book dedicated only to this purpose, I open a page. I allow myself to use only one magazine (gleaned from laundromats, used bookstores, etc.) I page trhough the magazine quickly (no more than 5 minutes for the whole process). I tear out either one image or 3 or 4. I choose images that for whatever reason "speak" to me -- images that have some "juice". Then I page through again searching for one word or short phrase which I tear out. The word or phrase may or may not have anything to do with the image/s I've chosen. I look at them, free associate from them. Then I glue them down into the book -- either one image and one phrase or all the images. sometimes I use the phrase, sometimes I don't.

I date the page, glue things down and then treat it as a tarot card or "divination" for the day ahead. What does this collage have to say to me about my day?

I find the process very fun and doable (5 minutes max for the whole thing!). And, I do also enjoy looking back over the book as it gets made. A record of my inner life. Here is an example or two form my current "glue book". Happy gluing to you!

Hag Stones

I have always loved walking on beaches and especially ones that have lots of stones.  I am drawn by the very smooth ones.  I have quite a collection over the years of stones that just felt good in my hand.

Then I went through a phase of looking for and collecting heart shaped stones.  They are surprisingly easy and rewarding to find.  And people seem to like receiving them as gifts. 

If you live near the Great Lakes, you will know of “Petoskey stones” which everyone there collects.  They are stones with fossil imprints of coral from when an ancient sea covered the center of the US. 

But, my latest interest has been in searching for and collecting “Hag stones”.  I think I first heard about them while reading Susan Blackies book “Hagitude” which I have mentioned here before.  The book was transformative for me.  It helped me to reclaim the word “Hag” as something to aspire to – to be proud of.  A Hag is not just an ugly old woman in folklore – but is an archetype of a strong woman elder with vision and a trust in mystery.   I want to claim that aspiration!

In the book Blackie talks about women’s propensity to collect natural objects and to display them in our homes.  She talked about being a collector  -- not of trinkets, but of clues.  The collections of stones, feathers, seashells etc. that I see in so many of my friend’s houses are so much more than “clutter”.  Blackie says these natural objects are “carefully collected objects that mirror my sense of myself as a shape-shifting, storied creature.”

So, I have lately been collecting these Hagstones.  Stones with naturally occurring holes that go all the way through the stone.  The holes are made by the action of water or the boring of aquatic animals and water.  They are not particularly rare – although they are mostly found on ocean beaches with a certain type of sediment.  They are said to be “magical”.  The lore holds that if you close one eye and look through the hole, you can see into the “netherworld”.  Also that if you have one on a chain around your neck, you will receive protection.  I don’t know about that.  But, I do know that they are fun to find and to wonder about.  And I love that having them on my windowsill is a way of displaying “clues” about what I love and value.  When I think of myself as a Hag Stone I like to think that the holes that have been formed in me are possible portals for magic, or at least for transformation!

Do you have displayed (or secretly hidden?) “clues” to what matters to you /to who you are in your home?  Do your friends?  Ask them about these natural objects they love!