by the light of day
The following information is provided for
Hopedale, St Bernard Parish, Louisiana
(longitude W 89.1°, latitude N 29.1°):
Saturday 14 February 2009
Central Standard Time
SUN
Begin civil twilight 6:12 a.m.
Sunrise 6:36 a.m.
Sun transit 12:11 p.m.
Sunset 5:46 p.m.
End civil twilight 6:10 p.m.
MOON
Moonrise on preceding day 10:14 p.m.
Moon transit 3:52 a.m.
Moonset 9:24 a.m.
Moonrise 11:14 p.m.
Moonset on following day 10:00 a.m.
Phase of the Moon on 14 February:
waning gibbous with 71% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.
Last quarter Moon on 16 February 2009 at 3:38 p.m. Central Standard Time.
source:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_pap.pl-
Labels: moon, schedule
map of walk : New Orleans to Hopedale
here is the interactive map of the walk:
From New Orleans to Hopedale
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karmic seeds
A very good and succinct explanation by Geshe Tashi Tsering in his book The Buddha's Medicine for the Mind: Cultivating Wisdom and Compassion:
"Intention is the most important of all mental events because it gives direction to the mind, determining whether we engage with virtuous, non-virtuous, or neutral objects. Just as iron is powerlessly drawn to a magnet, our minds are powerlessly drawn to the object of our intentions.
An intention is a mental action; it may be expressed through either physical or verbal actions. Thus, action, or karma, is of two types: the action of intention and the intended action. The action of intention is the thought or impulse to engage in a physical or verbal act. The intended action is the physical or verbal expression of our intention. Karma actually refers to the action of intention but in general usage it includes the intended action and the seeds that are left in the mind as a result.
How do we accumulate karmic seeds? Every physical and verbal action is preceded by mental activity. Goodwill motivates a kind gesture; ill will motivates nasty words. Ill will is the intention to cause mental, emotional or physical harm. Thus, before and during a bad action, ill will is present in our mind. The presence of ill will before and during this act has an impact and influence on the mind due to which a certain potential is left behind. This potential is a karmic seed, a seed planted in our mind by physical, verbal or mental action. The strength or depth of this seed is determined by a number of factors, including how strong our intention is, whether we clearly understand what we are doing, whether we act on our intention and whether the physical and verbal action is completed.
Seeds will remain in the mind until they ripen or are destroyed. Seeds left by negative mental events and actions can be destroyed by the four opponent or antidotal powers. The most important of these four powers are regret for the negative act and a firm resolve not to act that way again in the future. Seeds left by positive mental events and actions can be destroyed by anger.
Even if we do not act on a negative intention, a karmic seed of diminished potency is still left in the mind. This incompleted seed is easier to remove. If it is not destroyed, a negative seed will eventually produce an unpleasant and negative effect while a postive seed will produce a pleasant and positive effect. Karmic seeds do not go to waste even after one hundred aeons. They will come to fruition when the time comes and the conditions assemble.
Actions motivated by the wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings and dedicated to that end have a special feature. The positive effects of such an act will be experienced many times over without being exhausted. For this reason, virtue dedicated to complete enlightenment is likened to a magnificent tree that bears fruit every season without fail. Such virtues will bear fruit until Buddhahood is attained."
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Labels: seed, seeding behavior, transformation
journey in the night
when all saints day
became
Día de los Muertos
we sat together again
in the place where memory lives on
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Labels: connecting, death, dispersal, love, memory, night, transformation
retreat into forest
After tiring of the feuding monks of Kosambi, the Buddha left to spend a year in the forest with no monks or lay people in attendance, The elephant known as Palilayaka cleared a path to a hidden cave and brought him fresh fruits every day. A monkey also attended the Buddha, bringing him his most valued posession, a honeycomb.
When Buddha departed to return to Kosambi, Palilayaka attempted to follow him into the forest. The Buddha warned him, "From here on is the territory of men and a great danger to animals such as you." Palilayaka stood and roared with grief. As soon as the Buddha was out of sight, his heart broke and he died right where he stood.
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Labels: death, dispersal, love, woods
i went out for you today
I went out for you today, to the beach. not the beach where I held the wet stranger in the silence before the helicopter. no, not that one. I went to the one where I practiced cartwheels in the sand, one after another, as the dog barked and someone collected heart-shaped rocks.
I walk eyes shut today and listen.
I am listening for you today.
booming waves, low and wild, paired with crisp crunch of footfall.
the ocean rips, spray rises, foam erupting
fizzing as it races up the tideline.
in the shallows: clap, slap, slop.
ascending, descending, disappearing.
today another dog runs across my track,
skidding eight paces in the sand.
I go back and measure later.
I count curious pinholes in patterns still remaining,
more visible after the sun sinks, when shadows set.
I try to make a perfect impression.
the day you were listening for me:
it is not my time, I said to you
just the thought of it calmed me
as I watched the car spiral into the air
graceful yet struggling, like a fish fighting on the line
today is not my day I said to you,
as twisted metal slid in front of me
and I drove through it, heart pounding.
it was a brutal 90 degrees up there at the cemetery that afternoon
sweat beading down my spine as I ordered the two headstones
and walked the grid alone. Halloween. how goth, I joked later.
you were there, almost a stranger
but not quite
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Labels: birth, connecting, death, locus of control, mail, memory, ocean, proximity, reclaiming, sea, spontaneous, translation
the journey of a letter (two)
Dear Peter,
I know that you are very very tired now. Maybe too tired to read, so you & Sally are together and she is reading this aloud to you. You know how much I love you two, my dear friends, and I wish I could be there right now to spend time with you – to be present, with compassion and love, to keep you company & to be together. You are always in my heart Peter. That may sound corny but it is true! Maybe because I live so far away I always carry this lifetime of experiences, moments, memories with me – so for us it is folk mass (long ago), catching up in the driveway, sitting at the kitchen table, walking our dogs, the hole in the hedge between our houses --- the little moments, the Big moments. I kept the wrapper from the Stollen cake you brought me last Christmas – here – wrapping your letter- because it makes me smile – you make me smile Peter! Thank you for being my friend – I cherish our friendship always.
I found something recently while walking the dog at Half Moon Bay – the beach we walked when you came to visit – yes in August I was walking and when I came up from the beach I stopped with the dog to take my shoe off & dump the sand out. When I leaned on the fence post to stabilize myself, I saw this stone cross inside the fence post – someone left it there.
I don’t always know why I find things but I
CAN recognize their significance – things stick out to me and sometimes they really do
STICK OUT, as in this case! I thought you might like to have it now you know the story and how it reminds me of you, of us, of our walk there – our day together. The stone – I forget what kind it is – it as a nice feel to it and a little weight, feels good in the hand, if you hold it.
I have enclosed some photos from my
Florida walk in April – when I jumped out of a plane & walked 24 miles by myself in the dark on the Canaveral
National Seashore. It was grueling, exhausting, difficult, and at the same time, enlightening. When I was really really tired and maybe a bit concerned about being washed away to sea or stopping and not getting up all by myself, I
found a
letter on the small strip of beach, at my feet while walking, it was tied to a balloon and the wind carried it hundreds of miles then it washed up on the shore at my feet, and I found it in the dark! It made me so happy to know there was communication from a stranger, that this synchronicity happened. I was so tired I could not break the plastic string to open the letter while I was walking in the night but I tied the balloon to my backpack and it knocked around keeping my company. Also, the moon was near full and cast my shadow ahead of me in the sand as I walked. I could now see the shadow of the balloon cast in front of me as well – it really cheered me up and I didn’t feel so alone on my exhausting journey.
I hope this letter cheers you up like the one I found on the beach – and like the balloon I may not be in your direct line of sight but you know I’m with you wherever your journey takes you.
I love you very much Peter – I know you know that!
I will be home Friday ----
Labels: death, fabulous, letter, love, mail, memory, moon, night, ocean, sea, walk
