Script surgery

          All but the bottom photie were taken on Tuesday, a gloriously sunny day, most of which I spent in the allotment. Eating a strawberry is a real treat since the mice normally get to them first. But I did some digging on Tuesday and found my first tatties of the year. King Edwards. They grew from bits left in the ground last year. Delicious and they grew themselves.

           I finally submitted my play for a script surgery during the festival. This may not happen. I was very reluctant to do this, wondering if I'd really want to get involved in drama again, other than writing it. But I finished a play and I won't get anyone to read it otherwise. But the main inducement, the only one really, was that Stephen Greenhorn is one of the readers. When did I last see Stephen? Be really nice to have a cup of coffee and a wee chat. Wonder if he has any news of Barry Graham. Shame I had to send a play!!

            Yes, now I see that the bottom photie is of the new  bridge taken from the train.

                                                         

I guess that's the sails with the enlargement thingy.

Looking forward to the allotment today!

          A few days ago when I was up at the allotment, a fox came along and stood and stared at me for quite some time. Weird how they'll do that. They stop, stare for a bit, then move on. One of the other photies is of Heather's cat. The kind of dark photies are from when I was away with Heather last weekend. We tend to go out somewhere leafy and with water on the weekend. This weekend we had a glorious day on the Fife coast, but I'd forgotten my camera. The top pictures were taken last night. Today is a hot. So looking forward to spending the afternoon outside. Perfect day for the allotment!

          As far as the meditations are concerned, I think the idea is to associate yourself with a higher consciousness. This is union or yoga. Achieving this would be the realisation of non-self surely. From this perspective, there is no individual soul. You could say you were part of one big soul, or consciousness. Then your consciousness would be arising, abiding and declining in the big consciousness. So hope I can achieve this before I die. Be wonderful to have years and years living like this, so I have to get a move on, and get into purification at least as far as the drinking is concerned.

         I got a friend request on Facebook yesterday. From someone in Ethiopia, a Tina Konjo Tina. My FB page was really to keep in contact with family members, so I asked this young lady if she'd made a mistake, but when she said she hadn't, so I said okay. I was intrigued by the person being from Ethopia. I have no idea at all what that must be like.

Some Bottie photies

          Took a donner round the Botties the day before yesterday, when it wasn't raining. Well, it aint raining today either. Going up to the allotment and maybe I'll paint the hut.

Red letter day!

          Tsongkhapa says in The Book of Three Inspirations that heat comes in various guises. Thin heat, fat heat, heat just under the skin. I think he says that the best heat is the heat that starts slowing and builds up from the bottom of your torso. Well, yesterday I felt that what was happening was enough of a novelty for me to have a look at the date on the newspaper at the end of the meditation. This is a red letter day, thinks I. It was July 2nd, 2017. My body filled with heat, or warmth. Not enough to dry off blankets in the brass monkeys, but more than there ever was before. And when I was still meditating, it did occur to me that I might have entered the zone where "explosions" of bliss and heat might result from the vase breathing.

           Of course, sometimes you get a bit of a spike. What happened yesterday might not happen today. I should know by this time, but I haven't done any meditating today so far and it's after twelve. This is what is so weird for me. My practise is worse now that it has been for .... for a long, long time. So the purification and accumulation is not progressing the way you might expect when there seems to be such forward movement in the meditations. But this has been my problem: understanding how asceticism affects this stuff. Well, I know it does, but progress seems to happen anyway. Don't understand, but what the hell.... it's hard to believe in the power of blessings, but I have been blessed by some folk with powerful minds. Anyway, I do not feel as if I deserve what is developing in these meditations (when I get round to them!).

           Hoping to get some work done on the book today.