Weekend ending!

          I went for a walk to the Botties yesterday and saw a heron in the Water of Leith on my way there. I took a photie of the person remembered on the seat I was meditating on. I noted that I was twenty odd years older already. I put my age on a form last week. 63. That's really old!! i never expected to get that old.

          I'm going to get a laptop soon so I can travel about and write as well. Here is the one I've been recommended:
http://www.toshiba.co.uk/laptops/satellite/c50-b/satellite-c50-b-14d/

          It's a long time since I tried to put a link into this blog. That doesn't look right somehow.

Great day already!

          It's been a great day so far and it's just gone ten o clock in the morning! I was up meditating before six, but didn't settle well after my breakfast, so I went into the living room and saw that the boys with the cherrypicker had arrived. They were supposed to be there at the weekend, but first thing on Monday suits me!
           Then I went up to Queen Street to get my visa for India organised and that seemed to go without a hitch.
            When I got back, the cherrypicker boys were gone and so was the vent that was letting in the water. No vent. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! It's horrible having water dripping into your living room. Now the flat has good windows and no leaks. I can lock it up and bugger off whenever I like now! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Cycling today!

          The two top photies are of the fire I set up the allotment yesterday. I usually go up on a Sunday and set fire to most of the Sunday Times, most of which I don't read anyway. The ones at the bottom were from the cycling I did today.

           I really enjoyed being out on  the bike today. I could feel a little joy creeping through. This is because I had nothing to drink on Saturday night. I'd been off the beer and plonko collapso for a fortnight before Friday when I was ambushed by one of my brother's. So we went to the pub. Oh well.

            Having had no trouble not drinking for the two weeks, and really enjoying it, I reckon I don't have a drink problem. I have a people problem. Flatheids make me nervous. There's nothing to do with most of them except drink these days. What happened to all the potheids?

             I sold five books over the last month. I sold two yesterday. I don't remember ever selling two on one day before! Hurrah! I'm going to be rich! Rich I tell you! Actually, making any money out of writing would be a pain the the neck these days. I'd had to fill in a tax form and ..... see people!

           

DZOGCHEN

I copied this tonight and don't want to waste it. Must read that book again. Fab, so it is.

"The Dzogchen teachings view the process of cosmic origination in a way that is parallel to, but slightly different from, the Bon tradition. In the Dzogchen teachings, it is considered that the primordial state, which is beyond time and beyond creation and destruction, is the fundamentally pure base of all existence, both at the universal and individual levels. It is in the inherent nature of the primordial state to manifest as light, which in turn manifests as the five colours, the essences of the elements. The essences of the elements interact (as explained in the Bon cosmology) to produce the elements themselves, which make up both the individual's body and the whole material dimension. The universe is thus understood as the spontaneously arising play of the energy of the primordial state, and may be enjoyed as such by an individual who remains integrated with his or her essential inherent condition, in the self -liberating, self perfected state, the state of Dzogchen" .... interesting especially considering how old these ideas are. From the wonderful book, The Crystal and the Way of Light.

Bottie stuff

          I walked through the Botanic Gardens today. So fortunate to be able to take such a walk in this neighbourhood. The first three photies are of the fire I had at the allotment yesterday, partly to burn some stuff my partner asked me to dispose of. The bottom photie is of the cabbage I picked after I'd had a wonderful meditation on my bench. Facing the autumn sun and doing the bliss. Ye canny whack it!

          Tomorrow will be two weeks since I last had a drink. I now feel as if I am properly settling into being a recluse and thoroughly enjoying it. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have enough time in the day for all the stuff I'd like to do. My meditations are down from six hours a day to about four or five just now. But I'm writing again and that's chopping off the meditations in the evening.

Writing my book about going to Ecuador is what I'm going to do just now. I'm hacking out a first draft so I can have something to work with. This is the worst bit of writing a book. Nothing is ever quite satisfactory.

Radio Stuff

          I thought I had all the stuff I had produced on the radio on cassettes, and, since this technology is now obsolete, I've been getting my son in law to help me get them onto the computery thing. So I've had to listen to some of it. Very strange after a decade or so. But, it seems, that I don't have a complete copy of the Real McCoy. One half of the tape is blank. This seems like a bit of shame since it was probably the best radio play I wrote, but c'est la vie.

          The sky photies were taken last week when I was meditating up the allotment. The photie in the middle is a cake. Yes,  a cake in the refrectory of the Samye Ling. Last night I was meditating in the temple and I could hear some singing from somewhere, but I kind of ignored it. When I finally went outside, it was raining and the wee square now in front of the temple was empty except for these two big fires. Apparently, the sangha had been holding this fire puja. I don't know what a fire puja is. Shows how wonderfully semi-detached I am that it went on without me knowing about it! I do love fires though.