Tired but happy

So, after yet another absence, here I am back from a conference (well, workshop) in Japan where I managed to succumb to pneumonia and end up on antibiotics and stuck in my hotel room. Then I came home and got more antibiotics and more time off. Argh! But I did finish my Master's in Information Studies (phew) and am regaining a degree of health. I've worried about friends in NZ and Japan.

I've also met the very charming and mind-blowing RP, who constitutes the "happy" part of this post.  I rarely meet people with whom I can be so at ease right from the start, and I am constantly amazed at how his (very intelligent) mind works and the many common interests we share. I think I'll stop before I go all mushy. Suffice to say, I am not at all in a calm, meditative mood, and my mind is leaping here and there.

Next time I might even post something relevant to the blog. How unusual.

Grandma

I was thinking of Grandma today. She died back in Feb of 2001. I think she had quite a hard life, being a city girl who married a city boy who was promptly sent to work in the country. I remember her having lots of things. Lots. Stuff. Trinkets. Ornaments. Junk! When she died my mother and uncle and aunt had to clear out her little retirement village home (Papa had died in 1987), and my mother complained bitterly about all the stuff that had been squished into that tiny house: paper serviettes and sugar packets from McDonald's, tea towels, serving plates.... never-ending stuff.

But today I was thinking of Grandma and minimalism; something most people who knew her would say she didn't do! But I remember her telling me that when she was a young mother in the country she had precisely three dresses: two to be worn alternately through the week, and a "best" dress for Sunday. As the "best" Sunday dress became worn, it would be relegated to "ordinary" status and one of the "ordinary" dresses would become a dress for my mother, or rags, or something.

It's hard to imagine. But I really think I need way less clothing than I currently own.

(Photo of Grandma - Dorothy - aged 6, with her mother Vida. Christmas 1918.)

*Sigh*

Well, I haven't been a very regular poster recently. I guess deciding to study part time (distance ed, while working full time) is a big part of it. I am enjoying it - Master of Information Studies at Charles Sturt University - but it is time consuming and a bit stressful. I'm taking two subjects over the Summer and I'll be finished by Jan 31.  Yay!

But it has resulted in me doing a headless chicken act - work, run home, eat, study, sleep, repeat ad nauseam. Weekends are basic laundry and cleaning/shopping days, so anything other than the basics has fallen by the wayside and is piling up - cupboards need decluttering and organising, my desk needs setting up properly (yup, two semesters gone and I still haven't got the desk ready!), "stuff" has been accumulating all over.

One thing I do need to work on is not wasting time on the internet - if I've finished using it for study, emails, etc, then turn the damned thing off!! No endless wandering around looking at fun blogs and Facebook. Ack.

What do I need? Discipline? Whatever it is, I don't think I've found it yet.

(from http://softypapa.wordpress.com/)

Distant

It's been months since I posted here, and it's been a hectic few months. Summer (which I hate), trying to be there for my sister and her son, a new teaching year, busyness at work, two conferences, one overseas, the paper from which I spent hours reworking into an article which was (finally!) accepted for publication.... Argh. I need to rediscover peace and calm. Second semester starts next week. Am going to find the on-campus meditation group and join them.

(edited to add: the "on-campus" meditation group actually meets waaaaaay off campus, which makes it impossible to get there and back and actually meditate during lunch. Curses!)

Mindfulness

One of my goals this year is to work on mindfulness.... well, how do I do that? This great post from Zen Habits is useful:

from www.zenhabits.net

I've linked to Leo Babauta's http://mnmlist.com/ before, and this post and list of ways to develop mindfulness are in his inimitable style. I particularly like this one:

4. Put space between things. Related to the “Do less” rule, but it’s a way of managing your schedule so that you always have time to complete each task. Don’t schedule things close together — instead, leave room between things on your schedule. That gives you a more relaxed schedule, and leaves space in case one task takes longer than you planned.

It reminds me of Amy Dacyczyn's Tightwad Gazette story about only buying her children ice cream occasionally - that way it makes the "going out for ice cream" event special, and more meaningful. She likens it to the mat between a picture and the frame. Placing space between events/objects/etc allows them to be so much more interesting and different from everyday life, and therefore more appreciated.

Sunny recently posted about saving money - but I read mindfulness into her post, too. When you are mindful of where your resources go, you can expend them in whichever ways are most meaningful to you. Sunny mentions forgoing the daily bought-on-autopilot coffee, and putting that money towards a future hot air balloon ride.

Small considerations such as ice cream, coffee, and creating space in your life around events helps to value each one more. Not sweating the small stuff, but making the most of it, and appreciating it all.

And I can't mention food without remembering this Basho poem:

Oh bush warblers!
Now you've shit all over my
rice cake on the porch

--Matsuo Basho

鶯や餅に糞する縁の先　（uguisu ya / mochi ni funsuru / en no saki）

Newness

A new year, and a fresh start. Resolutions? The usual - eat better, get more exercise, work harder, blah blah blah....

Mostly I want to work on being mindful (Spud!) and concentrate on peace and honesty. True to myself, taking pleasure in small things, taking small steps forward on my spiritual journey.

A new year poem from Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

The years first day
thoughts and loneliness;
the autumn dusk is here.

Here's to a year of simplicity, solitude and contemplation. All while living a real life in the real world!

Over

Farewell Chris, it was a long battle and now you can rest in peace. Namu amida butsu.

Lifecycle

Another long absence from the blog. The Mountain Hut has been drenched in tears as I prepare to say farewell to my brother in law, who is dying of cancer. He's off to a better place, whatever his destination. I feel so sad for my sister and their son, who is only 6. I know how I'd like to feel, and deal with this: serene, understanding, and compassionate. However I'm a red-and-swollen-eyed mess, who hasn't eaten properly in weeks and gets headaches and stomach aches from the stress. Acceptance is hard to find. It's all so unfair.

(edited: ok, "whingeing" is a little harsh. I'll add "sad")

Yum!

Sometimes it's nice to get out of the hut (um, like I don't go to work every day?) and go somewhere I've long heard about:

The Fo Guang Yuen Art Gallery


I went with my lovely friend Hui who has exhibited there before (link to her fabulous work here) as a celebration for her finishing her PhD. She had previously told me the place was packed at lunchtime so we arranged to go early.... and it was almost deserted! The menu soon showed that while they do cater to the lunch crowd they have turned into a mainly afternoon tea place, with many delicious cakes. We had lunch (Hui had noodles, I had dumplings; all vegetarian of course*) and then we explored the meditation hall upstairs and the gallery downstairs. What a lovely oasis of peace in the middle of a bustling city!

The Tea House also had a great selection of books and Buddhist things (statues, rosaries, etc) and the atmosphere was wonderful. A tiny bit out of the way of my usual life, and only open for lunch Monday-Friday, but I'll definitely go again and take other friends.

*I'm not sure what the deal is with Chinese vegetarian food that it has to contain "vegetarian meat" - I know it's usually made from gluten or tofu, but why not make a really good tofu dish, rather than food containing "vegetarian ham"? Hmmm.

Karma

Recently I requested a book from interlibrary loans called "Sweeping Changes: Zen and the art of household maintenance" by Gary Thorpe. (Mandatory link to Amazon here although with a slightly different title(?), but I suggest ILL. Much cheaper, and you won't have the book making more clutter!)

Gary talks about seeing cleaning not as something to be done quickly and then move on to something more fun, but as a small meditation in itself. Did you ever notice how pictures/movies of Zen temples always seem to have a monk or novice outside sweeping up leaves in the garden?

The book is broken up into short chapters, making it a quick and easy read and certainly encouraging me to get up between chapters and do a few things.

We all know the Buddhist concept of fusessho （不殺生/ふせっしょう）: "thou shalt not kill." One amusing moment in the book was when he related the story of a Buddhist teacher and friend in Hawaii who had a problem with cockroaches. Gary writes:

After decades of coping with this problem, he now kills them as he encounters them - with Buddhist compassion - wishing them "better luck next time."

Excellent.

Desire

I was going to call this post "Envy" but I realised I didn't need to be envious, and if I exerted myself I could actually achieve something similar! A few links today to homes/blogs which encourage simplicity and minimalism:

1. Victor & Soeun's Romantic Loft: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/small-cool-2007-entries/11-victor-soeuns-romantic-loft-021235

Fabulous use of a very small space (a 518 sq ft apartment in New York).

2. Churchlady's apartment: http://www.flickr.com/photos/churchlady32/sets/72157621814401207/show/with/3786749539/

Want!

3. Miss Minimalist's blog: http://www.missminimalist.com, especially this post: http://www.missminimalist.com/?p=40

Can you imagine how easy it would be to concentrate on meditation or even reading a book, in such uncluttered surroundings? I spend a lot of time wishing my flat were somewhat like these, and generally Not Actually Doing Anything. All thought, no action. I am inspired!

笠羅漢 (kasa rakan) "The statues with straw hats"

...my own completely inadequate translation! A "kasa" is a straw hat, and a "rakan" is in Chinese "luohan" or in Sanskrit "arhat" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakan (Am I the only person who sees "arhat" and thinks "asshat"? I hope not!)

In this cartoon version of a Japanese folk story (Manga Nippon Mukashibanashi), the old couple find they have no food or money to buy food, so the old man goes off to town to sell the straw hats he has been making. On the way he is caught in a rain storm, and seeks shelter in a grove with sixteen rakan. He decides they need the straw hats more than he needs food, so gives his hats to them and goes home. [By the way, the old woman is ok with this - he apologises for not bringing back any food and she says that his giving the hats to the rakan is just the sort of thing she likes about him - which makes him blush!] That night, the couple are visited by a ghostly procession bearing a coffin, which the pall bearers leave behind. In it is a treasury of "koban" - gold coins. By the door they find one of the old man's hats, and when they visit the rakan they see that one of them is hatless. So, they know that the riches they received were given by the rakan! And they lived happily ever after...

It's a beautifully illustrated story, and it reminds me of a simpler time when gods seemed closer and more intimately entwined in daily life.

Also, for those seeking the solitude of the mountain hut, the couple's house is perfect - in a bamboo grove, with little by way of furniture or decoration. Something to learn from, in many ways.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at8JhEgEb8g

Chuffed

Gosh, I seem to have *actual real people* reading the blog. How very kind of you!

Just when I thought peace was reigning upstairs (I think the noisy bloke has been replaced by another less noisy bloke) I now have recurring drama in the form of a young girl who likes to have very public outpourings of drunken grief, especially in the wee small hours. This block used to be so quiet! *sigh*

I've become interested in the case of a missing boy in the US, Hasanni Campbell. Poor mite was reportedly kidnapped back in August and hasn't been found, but the parents (foster parents) never seemed quite right in their protestations. I'm sure it's too late for the lad now, but what a waste of a tiny life. Here's a jizo for you, Hasanni!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizo

In Japan, Kṣitigarbha, known as Jizō, or Ojizō-sama as he is respectfully known, is one of the most loved of all Japanese divinities. His statues are a common sight, especially by roadsides and in graveyards. Traditionally, he is seen as the guardian of children, particularly children who died before their parents.

Relief

Deeeeep breath.

The conference is over, my paper went well, I survived the slobbering dogs at my friend's house, and got home and retrieved kitty from the cattery. AND I finally got my laptop back from the computer shop - 2 weeks!! I'm caught up on my Facebook responsibilities (FarmTown, Pet Society) and I picked up my dry cleaned coat today, so I can move on with the velvet sleeve and collar things. First day back at work today and am pretty worn out. Now I can concentrate on cataloguing the books which have recently arrived, and have a look at that serials cancellation spreadsheet. *sigh*

It's reasonably quiet here - I think the male half of the upstairs couple is away, and he's most of the problem. Maybe she dumped him? I can only hope.

Still have to put away all the laundry I did when I got back from Sydney, and there's nowhere to put it. Seriously, I need to go through my wardrobe and get rid of about half of it. I don't even know what's in the depths at the back! And the difficulty of searching for one item of clothing when your bag is black and so are all the clothes inside... Something to think about before I travel again!

Exhausted

Dear readers (of which I think there may be none!), once again a month has passed and not much has happened here at The Mountain Hut. Well, I did manage to catch bronchitis and end up staying home in bed for more than 2 weeks, so that's one achievement! *koff* I can't recommend the experience, really.

So I had two and a bit weeks of enjoying even more closeness with my noisy neighbours upstairs, but at least the cat was thrilled I was home all day, every day, and in bed!! Must have been in kitty heaven. Now the house is cold and dark and I leave for hours at a time. Poor puss.

Speaking of which, hasn't it been a week for celebrities shuffling off this mortal coil? Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Karl Malden, Mollie Sugden.... All rather sad, but Karl was 94 or something, and Mollie 86, so that's a pretty good innings. RIP Mrs Slocombe, and your fabulous collection of wigs!

Yikes!

Doesn't time fly? A few nice posts then: "Blog? What blog?" I can only admit to spending far too much of my time on Facebook (which my 5 year old nephew got me signed up for...) or generally doing things like having the flooring replaced in my apartment, and going to work and occasionally getting sick and staying in bed.

So, not too much happening at The Mountain Hut, especially not in terms of peace and quiet. The Chinese student couple who moved in upstairs earlier in the year are SO DAMNED NOISY I seriously hope they move out when their lease is up. Nothing destroys your Zen-like quiet like this couple yelling a conversation at each other while one is in the bedroom and the other is in the bathroom taking a shower. FFS!

Peace, calm, Zen-like..... **deep breath**

Poetry

You know, I really don't like poetry. It's sort of flowery and useless and if you want to get an emotion across, just damn well say what you mean! So, it's not a word I like to use, or indeed something I tend to read. Unless it's funny, like Banjo Paterson's Mulga Bill's Bicycle.

I recently found a card in my letter box inviting (nay, inciting!) me to join a simple living group. It sounded good, the website is www.simplicitycollective.com, but then the group itself is called (wait for it) "The Life Poets' Simplicity Collective: a poetic alternative to consumer culture".

Why do I have to be a Life Poet? Couldn't it have been Life Builder? Or Life Definer? Or even cut the flowery junk and just call it the Simplicity Collective? Eek.

It makes me think of dear old simplicity forefather Henry David Thoreau. Even the oft-quoted Walden is, I find, a bit flowery and poetic - well, Thoreau was a poet, too. Walden also illustrates for me the poetic - or shall we say impractical - side of simplicity and simple living.

Solitude

So, the mountain hut is where I'd like to be, but in reality probably would never get to. And after the bushfires in Victoria the past few weeks, would it be a good place to be?

I'm fascinated by the monastic, retired, eremetic, simple living idea. A small living space, few possessions, contemplating life while working a small vegetable patch... Hmm, probably a bit idealistic.

One of my favourite "mountain hut" stories is by Kamo no Chōmei (鴨長明: 1155 – 1216), titled "Hōjōki" (方丈記: The Ten Foot Square Hut). This is the description of the hut:

If I compare it to the cottage of my middle years it is not a hundredth of the size. Thus as old age draws on my hut has grown smaller and smaller. It is a cottage of quite a peculiar kind, for it is only ten feet square and less than seven feet high, and as I did not decide to fix it in any definite place I did not choose the site by divination as usual. The walls are of rough plastered earth and the roof is of thatch. All the joints are hinged with metal so that if the situation no longer pleases me I can easily take it down and transport it elsewhere. And this can be done with very little labor, for the whole will only fill two cart-loads, and beyond the small wage of the carters nothing else is needed.

Now hidden deep in the fastnesses of Mount Hino, I have put up eaves projecting on the south side to keep off the sun and a small bamboo veranda beneath them. On the west is the shelf for the offerings of water and flowers to Buddha, and in the middle, against the western wall is a picture of Amida Buddha so arranged that the setting sun shines from between his brows as though he were emitting his ray of light, while on the doors of his shrine are painted pictures of Fugen and Fudo. Over the sliding doors on the north side is a little shelf on which stand three or four black leather cases containing some volumes of Japanese poems and music and a book of selections from the Buddhist Sutras. Beside these stand a harp and a lute, of the kind called folding harp and jointed lute. On the eastern side is a bundle of fern fronds and a mat of straw on which I sleep at night. In the eastern wall there is a window before which stands my writing-table. A fire-box beside my pillow in which I can make a fire of broken brushwood completes the furniture. To the north of my little hut I have made a tiny garden surrounded by a thin low brushwood fence so that I can grow various kinds of medicinal herbs. Such is the style of my unsubstantial cottage.

(from http://www.humanistictexts.org/kamo.htm)