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Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
@Bunks said:
Happy Summer Solstice to my Southern friends
Happy Winter Solstice to my Northern friends
May all beings in all the dharma realms be happy, healthy and free from suffering.
Thank you @bunks... the shortest or longest day has rolled around again, the solar calendar winding its way through time. Good wishes to everyone in the coming cycle.
It occurs to me that it makes more sense to celebrate the new year on the solstice than at another time, because it is the turning of the sun, the start of a new cycle.
Well after the Xmas morning powerwalk, I headed to the beach for a dip...
Felt somewhat insecure just sitting on the deserted beach, but loved every moment of it...
Then took a drive to Trig Hill lookout point...It's a windy narrow road...
Managed to hold the phone and video part of the way back down, whilst driving ...don't try this at home children...
Christmas dinner- A avocado salad/a baked nut & lentil loaf smothered over with a thick mushroom gravy/ mashed potatoes/ peas & carrots/cranberry sauce, and followed by a brandy flambéed plum pudding with hard sauce. Tea was a black mix of an Assam & Queen Victoria for Jan, her sister and myself.
A well fed bubble of 3 we are.
Blessings all & may this next approaching year be less interesting than the last.
@Shoshin!
Hah!
The most notable leftover was just me trying to remain awake for an evening sitting with an extended belly full of rich food in a warm room.
2
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
edited December 2020
For those who are interested, on Apple’s iTunes movie store there is a sale on of a lot of Disney and Pixar films, so if you want to add them to your digital library now is a good time to do so. Frozen, Frozen 2, Toy Story, The Incredibles 2, Coco, many more, so all kinds of good stuff going for 5.99 each.
And yes we had a meal almost entirely out of leftovers...
Went for a skinny dip after my walk this morning...the water when I first entered was refreshingly chilling. a real wake up call, then the body adapts ....
My son who lives in Berlin said they had their first snow of the season...
A spicy mock meat (vegetarian lamb kebab) salad for lunch, baby lettuce leaves, spring onion, baby carrot, sugar babe sweet mini tomatoes, red & green capsicum, mushroom...washed down with a cup of blackcurrant, acai, & goji superfruit tea...
A bee with its leg sacks full of pollen decided to shelter from the wind, at first I thought it was attracted to my foot as it hovered around it for a while, but it look a liking to my brightly coloured sarong, perhaps attracted to the flower pattern...
It is an Aotearoa morning ie, long whitish clouds cover the island, a storm is threatening and on my powerwalk as I was approaching what I call seagull rock , I was accosted by some very territorial seagulls, a squadron of them took to the air, circling over my head, some brave ones began to dive bomb me, fortunately none dropped their creamy bombs...
Shit happens..... fortunately not today
On Nov 16, a Pick up driver, while using it's cell phone, decided to redecorate my handicap van. no one hospitalized. I get Tender Wheels back, projected , on Jan 8. Having fun on my Mini Me 250 and just turned 73 yesterday. Family Covid free (<3 )
Remember, you are the light, you are each a most precious jewel.
On my walk this morning (the temperature was already in the mid twenties at 8am) I came across a dead rabbit on the road, (road kill-the third one this week) which I moved to the grass verge, if left on the road it would attract recyclers which could lead to even more deaths or injuries of the beneficial recyclers, eg birds, insects etc....and further along I picked up some broken beer bottle and the carboard box they came in, no doubt some young hoods had thrown the empties out of the car....
It's the council recycling day today and Mother Natures, but I guess Mother Nature's recycling is ongoing .... 24/7/365...Just doing my bit to help Mother Earth...
Apparently we have turned from a nation of shopkeepers to a nation of gardeners. Seeds selling like there is no tomorrow ... which is certainly possible ...
I like Thomson and Morgan and easy grow ...
Ordered two types of chilli and hope to have more luck with nasturtiums ... all eaten by wildlife last year
Growing a stir fry radish 'Bluemoon'
Marigolds for edible flowers ... https://www.thompson-morgan.com/top-10-easy-to-grow-flowers
If your garden space is on the small side, I've had much luck converting large industrial barrels into vertical growing spaces. I got mine for free through the bus terminals where they imported liquid soap in these large barrels to wash their vehicles with but didn't know what to do with the empties. One barrel gives me 36+ vegetables to grow in a space that used to only offer 5. I used a hole saw and a heat gun to make all the holes around the barrel for the plants to grow out of. In the fall/winter and early spring, the center of it can be used as a composter for the upcoming crop. This year I plan to build and put it on a small cement pad that includes an encircling water moat around it's edge to discourage slugs but favor bug eating birds instead.
Went for a stroll down to the beach after lunch and came across a group of people who were looking at something in a cage in the water....
On closer inspection there were three little blue penguins ( Korora ) in the cage...Not sure if the people in the water standing by the cage were DOC staff (Dept of Conservation) or local bird rescue, who were releasing them or had just caught them...
Orca snack on them and are often seen around the island in October especially in an area called Enclosure bay, I posted a video of two orcas in the bay swimming past some children a while back...anyhow they pick the little blue penguins off the reef...
There have been a few shark sightings around NZ beaches over the last week or so, sadly a young woman (19 years old) was fatally attacked at Waihi beach ( around 150 kms south of Auckland) the other day, she died from her wounds, loss of blood...
A week or so ago on the island, a large bronze whaler shark followed a swimmer into shallow water at Onetangi beach, (not the beach I skinny dip at) a friend told me it was his mother-in-law who was the swimmer...It's the warm waters that seem to be attracting them...
I often wonder with all the Dharma practice if I would keep my calm demeanor if I came face to face with a predator of the deep...and being an unwelcome guest in their underwater world...
The last shark encounter I had was back in the 70s when in Fiji, the Fijian family who I was staying with in Suva, invited me to their island for the xmas holidays...
We travelled to the island by a fishing boat, and it took a few hours to get there anyhow it was quite hot so I decided to dangle my feet in the cool water whilst sitting at the back of the boat when a family member point to the fin moving closer to the boat, people would throw their food scraps over the side, this attracted sharks...My feet (bait) shot out of the water quick sharp when I saw the fin....
Saw my beloved garden foxes yesterday, they may have a den at the bottom of my garden. Kindly fertilising lavender and thyme. Digging out soil snacks. They are good fence climbers and I think they have been taking Noble Silence lessons from my garden Buddhas. Don't hear them much at night.
My old iphone 5s was dying. The voltage required to shoot a 10 second video would cause it to shut down. Anything below an 80% charge made it unreliable. I couldn't find anything else in a smart phone that was as small and because I dislike indulging in larger life footprints than are necessary, I thought I'd try to fix it instead.
The utube videos on taking it apart and replacing the battery didn't look too bad so I invested in the$60.00 (Battery from a reliable company, repair tools, taxes & delivery charges) to see if that might save it.
The repair involved dealing with near microscopic screws, specialty tools that were too magnetic to allow their tips to hold the screws properly, lengthy searches for said screws & parts that either disappeared deeper into the phone or got flicked into temporary oblivion somewhere onto the floor.
The original lithium ion battery had aging holding glue that had now solidified itself into phone so tenaciously that I had to actually break the battery apart to remove it, (should have checked how long ago those utube videos were made).
It took three complete take aparts and rebuilding's to get everything put back together again properly.
4 hours work into a supposed 10 minute quick fix and and my eyes are crossing but it's finally running again like it was when it was new.
Well it's been almost a year since I visited Auckland, the last time I visited was just before Aotearoa (NZ) went into the first lockdown (The first lockdown was in early March, and I visited Auckland in February)...
All masked up and armed with my covid tracer app... I caught the ferry over then a train out to the suburb of Onehunga
After doing a bit of shopping at the Bin Inn I caught the train back to the CBD and visited
Tai Ping Chinese supermarket to buy some teas...
Did a bit more shopping in the CBD and then caught the ferry home sweet home...
It was strange to be wearing a mask, I haven't had to wear one for a few months now...Mask wearing is mandatory on all public transport in Auckland....
Weird and whacky weather today...hot, humid for most of the country AKA North Island & South Island,(the winds are meant to pick up becoming gale force... so batten down the hatches) then some parts of the South Island big drop in temperature and snow in some parts...winter mid summer....
1
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
The actual city centre was very busy with traffic as was the motorway viewed from the train, however the Chinese supermarket is just outside the CBD...
Our winter seems to be holidaying elsewhere, leaving us with the type of weather you'd expect in spring or fall. No snow, many flowers blooming and animals starting earlier than normal courtship rituals. Experts are predicting some winter vortex for us from the North and I am sure that eventually they'll be correct but so far so good.
4
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
We had a little flurry of snow a few days ago, and a few days of sub-zero temperatures. Most of the time it has been 5-10 degrees C, which is not at all bad.
Mostly just wanna announce my return to this site after a longggg time away from it, especially to older members who may remember me . I have matured a lot since I was last on this site, more tranquil and less crazy hahhaha. I'm 21 now and am in my final semester of my university degree. Getting properly back into regular study of Dharma and regular meditation etc. has really helped me recently.
Big hugs and metta to you all, especially during this trying time. Hope you are all coping well xx
@TheEccentric said:
Mostly just wanna announce my return to this site after a longggg time away from it, especially to older members who may remember me . I have matured a lot since I was last on this site, more tranquil and less crazy hahhaha. I'm 21 now and am in my final semester of my university degree. Getting properly back into regular study of Dharma and regular meditation etc. has really helped me recently.
Big hugs and metta to you all, especially during this trying time. Hope you are all coping well xx
I believe you were practicing with the NKT from memory? Still involved? I haven't hung out with them for quite a few years now.
@TheEccentric said:
Mostly just wanna announce my return to this site after a longggg time away from it, especially to older members who may remember me . I have matured a lot since I was last on this site, more tranquil and less crazy hahhaha. I'm 21 now and am in my final semester of my university degree. Getting properly back into regular study of Dharma and regular meditation etc. has really helped me recently.
Big hugs and metta to you all, especially during this trying time. Hope you are all coping well xx
I believe you were practicing with the NKT from memory? Still involved? I haven't hung out with them for quite a few years now.
That is correct. I still have respect for them and learnt a lot from their general Mahayana teachings and loved their meditation classes, however I personally find Vajrayana difficult to practice so wasn't really the right fit in my case. I went to a Soto-Zen priory later on and felt that their practices/teachings were a lot more accessible to me. I guess I practice East Asian Buddhism primarily now, rather than Tibetan. What was your experience of them?
@TheEccentric said:
Mostly just wanna announce my return to this site after a longggg time away from it, especially to older members who may remember me . I have matured a lot since I was last on this site, more tranquil and less crazy hahhaha. I'm 21 now and am in my final semester of my university degree. Getting properly back into regular study of Dharma and regular meditation etc. has really helped me recently.
Big hugs and metta to you all, especially during this trying time. Hope you are all coping well xx
I believe you were practicing with the NKT from memory? Still involved? I haven't hung out with them for quite a few years now.
That is correct. I still have respect for them and learnt a lot from their general Mahayana teachings and loved their meditation classes, however I personally find Vajrayana difficult to practice so wasn't really the right fit in my case. I went to a Soto-Zen priory later on and felt that their practices/teachings were a lot more accessible to me. I guess I practice East Asian Buddhism primarily now, rather than Tibetan. What was your experience of them?
I can see the appeal but I too found Vajrayana practice difficult and confusing at times. I struggled to get past the stoush with HHDL too.
Moved on to Thai Buddhism and now mix that with Pure land (the very definition of the odd couple!) with some interesting results...
@TheEccentric said:
Mostly just wanna announce my return to this site after a longggg time away from it, especially to older members who may remember me . I have matured a lot since I was last on this site, more tranquil and less crazy hahhaha. I'm 21 now and am in my final semester of my university degree. Getting properly back into regular study of Dharma and regular meditation etc. has really helped me recently.
Big hugs and metta to you all, especially during this trying time. Hope you are all coping well xx
I believe you were practicing with the NKT from memory? Still involved? I haven't hung out with them for quite a few years now.
That is correct. I still have respect for them and learnt a lot from their general Mahayana teachings and loved their meditation classes, however I personally find Vajrayana difficult to practice so wasn't really the right fit in my case. I went to a Soto-Zen priory later on and felt that their practices/teachings were a lot more accessible to me. I guess I practice East Asian Buddhism primarily now, rather than Tibetan. What was your experience of them?
I can see the appeal but I too found Vajrayana practice difficult and confusing at times. I struggled to get past the stoush with HHDL too.
Moved on to Thai Buddhism and now mix that with Pure land (the very definition of the odd couple!) with some interesting results...
I can see that such a mix could be a good combo. I think mantra-heavy practices mixed with some philosophical study and other types of meditation work really well. A balance of the two perhaps I guess. To some extent, I kind of mix Nichiren with my Zen as I chant 'Nam Myoho Renge Kyo' on the regular (among an eclectic mix of more general Mahayana mantras) alongside my Zazen practice.
2
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
I bought myself a Xiaomi Mi Band 5, its a basic fitness tracker which measures steps and heartbeat and a few other things. It’s supposed to give you more insight into your health... will let you know how I get on with it.
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
@Kerome said:
I bought myself a Xiaomi Mi Band 5, its a basic fitness tracker which measures steps and heartbeat and a few other things. It’s supposed to give you more insight into your health... will let you know how I get on with it.
Just to give a little insight into how I chose it — I had a few things I wanted, like activity tracking and heartrate tracking and oxygen saturation, and I found out that it was a lot cheaper to buy two devices. So I got an oxygen saturation fingerclip for 20 euro’s, and a Mi Band 5 for 32,50. The cheapest device which does all in one is a Garmin Vivosmart 4 for 100 euro’s.
So that does mean that my oxygen saturation is not tracked long term in places like the Band’s health app, but honestly it just reads 98-100% most of the time and if it drops below 90% you need to get a COVID test. It doesn’t need tracking over the long term, although VO2max is a nice thing to be able to track.
First few days with the Band... it’s not bad. If you use it like you’re supposed to, you get some insight into your fitness and your calorie expenditure. Which is what I wanted, I plan to use it to lose some kilo’s.
Well it's coming to the end of the summer holidays for many Kiwis, which means the island's popular beaches are almost empty during the weekdays...
The best part of the summer for many locals...we get our island back....
I've been going for walks everyday for years, however last October I started to powerwalk each morning after meditation, then around the beginning of this month I started to add jolking ( jogging body motion at a walking speed ) to the mix... so I now jolk from home to the beach, powerwalk along Oneroa beach, then jolk up past the lookout to the church then powerwalk back along the beach, jolk up the bush track and down to Owhanake bay and back home...
One day when I was out jolking a guy walking towards me smiled and said are you walking or jogging ? in a friendly joking manner, because I was moving so slow, I told him I was doing both and I call it "jolking" and he laughed...I have had people walking in the same direction overtake me with ease...
Well I just came across a youtube video about slow jogging AKA jolking, which I found quite interesting...
Comments
Thank you @bunks... the shortest or longest day has rolled around again, the solar calendar winding its way through time. Good wishes to everyone in the coming cycle.
It occurs to me that it makes more sense to celebrate the new year on the solstice than at another time, because it is the turning of the sun, the start of a new cycle.
Well after the Xmas morning powerwalk, I headed to the beach for a dip...
Felt somewhat insecure just sitting on the deserted beach, but loved every moment of it...
Then took a drive to Trig Hill lookout point...It's a windy narrow road...
Managed to hold the phone and video part of the way back down, whilst driving ...don't try this at home children...
Christmas dinner- A avocado salad/a baked nut & lentil loaf smothered over with a thick mushroom gravy/ mashed potatoes/ peas & carrots/cranberry sauce, and followed by a brandy flambéed plum pudding with hard sauce. Tea was a black mix of an Assam & Queen Victoria for Jan, her sister and myself.
A well fed bubble of 3 we are.
Blessings all & may this next approaching year be less interesting than the last.
Sounds yummy @how...any leftovers
@Shoshin!
Hah!
The most notable leftover was just me trying to remain awake for an evening sitting with an extended belly full of rich food in a warm room.
For those who are interested, on Apple’s iTunes movie store there is a sale on of a lot of Disney and Pixar films, so if you want to add them to your digital library now is a good time to do so. Frozen, Frozen 2, Toy Story, The Incredibles 2, Coco, many more, so all kinds of good stuff going for 5.99 each.
And yes we had a meal almost entirely out of leftovers...
Went for a skinny dip after my walk this morning...the water when I first entered was refreshingly chilling. a real wake up call, then the body adapts ....
My son who lives in Berlin said they had their first snow of the season...
A spicy mock meat (vegetarian lamb kebab) salad for lunch, baby lettuce leaves, spring onion, baby carrot, sugar babe sweet mini tomatoes, red & green capsicum, mushroom...washed down with a cup of blackcurrant, acai, & goji superfruit tea...
Just spent a wonderful day with my daughter who was up from Wellington, we went on an island road trip ...
The Esplanade
Trig Hill
The bay at Whakanewha regional park...
We had a beautiful day together...
Just beeing with a friend...
A bee with its leg sacks full of pollen decided to shelter from the wind, at first I thought it was attracted to my foot as it hovered around it for a while, but it look a liking to my brightly coloured sarong, perhaps attracted to the flower pattern...
Found this tiny fellow on the bathroom sink tap...
...a young praying mantis ....
It is an Aotearoa morning ie, long whitish clouds cover the island, a storm is threatening and on my powerwalk as I was approaching what I call seagull rock , I was accosted by some very territorial seagulls, a squadron of them took to the air, circling over my head, some brave ones began to dive bomb me, fortunately none dropped their creamy bombs...
Shit happens..... fortunately not today
Oops wrong thread....
On Nov 16, a Pick up driver, while using it's cell phone, decided to redecorate my handicap van. no one hospitalized. I get Tender Wheels back, projected , on Jan 8. Having fun on my Mini Me 250 and just turned 73 yesterday. Family Covid free (<3 )
Remember, you are the light, you are each a most precious jewel.
Peace to all
Glad to hear family is OK
Happy Birthday @Lionduck
Many happy returns @Lionduck
On my walk this morning (the temperature was already in the mid twenties at 8am) I came across a dead rabbit on the road, (road kill-the third one this week) which I moved to the grass verge, if left on the road it would attract recyclers which could lead to even more deaths or injuries of the beneficial recyclers, eg birds, insects etc....and further along I picked up some broken beer bottle and the carboard box they came in, no doubt some young hoods had thrown the empties out of the car....
It's the council recycling day today and Mother Natures, but I guess Mother Nature's recycling is ongoing .... 24/7/365...Just doing my bit to help Mother Earth...
Been ordering seeds ...
Apparently we have turned from a nation of shopkeepers to a nation of gardeners. Seeds selling like there is no tomorrow ... which is certainly possible ...
I like Thomson and Morgan and easy grow ...
Ordered two types of chilli and hope to have more luck with nasturtiums ... all eaten by wildlife last year
Growing a stir fry radish 'Bluemoon'
Marigolds for edible flowers ...
https://www.thompson-morgan.com/top-10-easy-to-grow-flowers
Hope to get a damask rose later on in the year
@lobster
If your garden space is on the small side, I've had much luck converting large industrial barrels into vertical growing spaces. I got mine for free through the bus terminals where they imported liquid soap in these large barrels to wash their vehicles with but didn't know what to do with the empties. One barrel gives me 36+ vegetables to grow in a space that used to only offer 5. I used a hole saw and a heat gun to make all the holes around the barrel for the plants to grow out of. In the fall/winter and early spring, the center of it can be used as a composter for the upcoming crop. This year I plan to build and put it on a small cement pad that includes an encircling water moat around it's edge to discourage slugs but favor bug eating birds instead.
Went for a stroll down to the beach after lunch and came across a group of people who were looking at something in a cage in the water....
On closer inspection there were three little blue penguins ( Korora ) in the cage...Not sure if the people in the water standing by the cage were DOC staff (Dept of Conservation) or local bird rescue, who were releasing them or had just caught them...
Orca snack on them and are often seen around the island in October especially in an area called Enclosure bay, I posted a video of two orcas in the bay swimming past some children a while back...anyhow they pick the little blue penguins off the reef...
Such is life's karmic flow...
@how
ah ha!
The plastic tub compost garden may be possible. I have an unused plastic bin. I have three active compost bins at the moment. Can certainly prepare.
Last year my biggest problem was lack of containers.
Just managed to get seed balls for my valiant garden birds. Only have one feeder up so far ...
Very inspiring @how
I may be able to build a twin tower system this winter to keep the foxes amused ... 🦊
Second bird feeder up. Maybe third tomorrow. Might resurrect my home made bird feeder ...
Bumble bees working in harmony with the sunflowers in the garden of some friends who live on the property....
In case anyone is interested. May not be random or useless for some 😂
https://wisdomexperience.org/wisdom-article/climate-emergency/?inf_contact_key=a8f6bc0edd59056a87f64c8b181d01cd16358d5485884e2f31e6019a0d26c8b0
There have been a few shark sightings around NZ beaches over the last week or so, sadly a young woman (19 years old) was fatally attacked at Waihi beach ( around 150 kms south of Auckland) the other day, she died from her wounds, loss of blood...
A week or so ago on the island, a large bronze whaler shark followed a swimmer into shallow water at Onetangi beach, (not the beach I skinny dip at) a friend told me it was his mother-in-law who was the swimmer...It's the warm waters that seem to be attracting them...
I often wonder with all the Dharma practice if I would keep my calm demeanor if I came face to face with a predator of the deep...and being an unwelcome guest in their underwater world...
The last shark encounter I had was back in the 70s when in Fiji, the Fijian family who I was staying with in Suva, invited me to their island for the xmas holidays...
We travelled to the island by a fishing boat, and it took a few hours to get there anyhow it was quite hot so I decided to dangle my feet in the cool water whilst sitting at the back of the boat when a family member point to the fin moving closer to the boat, people would throw their food scraps over the side, this attracted sharks...My feet (bait) shot out of the water quick sharp when I saw the fin....
Saw my beloved garden foxes yesterday, they may have a den at the bottom of my garden. Kindly fertilising lavender and thyme. Digging out soil snacks. They are good fence climbers and I think they have been taking Noble Silence lessons from my garden Buddhas. Don't hear them much at night.
My old iphone 5s was dying. The voltage required to shoot a 10 second video would cause it to shut down. Anything below an 80% charge made it unreliable. I couldn't find anything else in a smart phone that was as small and because I dislike indulging in larger life footprints than are necessary, I thought I'd try to fix it instead.
The utube videos on taking it apart and replacing the battery didn't look too bad so I invested in the$60.00 (Battery from a reliable company, repair tools, taxes & delivery charges) to see if that might save it.
The repair involved dealing with near microscopic screws, specialty tools that were too magnetic to allow their tips to hold the screws properly, lengthy searches for said screws & parts that either disappeared deeper into the phone or got flicked into temporary oblivion somewhere onto the floor.
The original lithium ion battery had aging holding glue that had now solidified itself into phone so tenaciously that I had to actually break the battery apart to remove it, (should have checked how long ago those utube videos were made).
It took three complete take aparts and rebuilding's to get everything put back together again properly.
4 hours work into a supposed 10 minute quick fix and and my eyes are crossing but it's finally running again like it was when it was new.
It sounds like it was time well spend @how
Wow, I admire your tenacity... most people I know would have spent their way out on an iPhone 12 mini (see here)
Well it's been almost a year since I visited Auckland, the last time I visited was just before Aotearoa (NZ) went into the first lockdown (The first lockdown was in early March, and I visited Auckland in February)...
All masked up and armed with my covid tracer app... I caught the ferry over then a train out to the suburb of Onehunga
After doing a bit of shopping at the Bin Inn I caught the train back to the CBD and visited
Tai Ping Chinese supermarket to buy some teas...
Did a bit more shopping in the CBD and then caught the ferry home sweet home...
It was strange to be wearing a mask, I haven't had to wear one for a few months now...Mask wearing is mandatory on all public transport in Auckland....
Trains and boats and planes
Weird and whacky weather today...hot, humid for most of the country AKA North Island & South Island,(the winds are meant to pick up becoming gale force... so batten down the hatches) then some parts of the South Island big drop in temperature and snow in some parts...winter mid summer....
Its strange to see the roads so empty, isn’t it.
The actual city centre was very busy with traffic as was the motorway viewed from the train, however the Chinese supermarket is just outside the CBD...
Our winter seems to be holidaying elsewhere, leaving us with the type of weather you'd expect in spring or fall. No snow, many flowers blooming and animals starting earlier than normal courtship rituals. Experts are predicting some winter vortex for us from the North and I am sure that eventually they'll be correct but so far so good.
We had a little flurry of snow a few days ago, and a few days of sub-zero temperatures. Most of the time it has been 5-10 degrees C, which is not at all bad.
Mostly just wanna announce my return to this site after a longggg time away from it, especially to older members who may remember me
. I have matured a lot since I was last on this site, more tranquil and less crazy hahhaha. I'm 21 now and am in my final semester of my university degree. Getting properly back into regular study of Dharma and regular meditation etc. has really helped me recently.
Big hugs and metta to you all, especially during this trying time. Hope you are all coping well xx
I remember you liked chicken
chickens as pets 💗
Welcome back ... 🙏🏽✅🥳
I believe you were practicing with the NKT from memory? Still involved? I haven't hung out with them for quite a few years now.
That is correct. I still have respect for them and learnt a lot from their general Mahayana teachings and loved their meditation classes, however I personally find Vajrayana difficult to practice so wasn't really the right fit in my case. I went to a Soto-Zen priory later on and felt that their practices/teachings were a lot more accessible to me. I guess I practice East Asian Buddhism primarily now, rather than Tibetan. What was your experience of them?
I can see the appeal but I too found Vajrayana practice difficult and confusing at times. I struggled to get past the stoush with HHDL too.
Moved on to Thai Buddhism and now mix that with Pure land (the very definition of the odd couple!) with some interesting results...
I can see that such a mix could be a good combo. I think mantra-heavy practices mixed with some philosophical study and other types of meditation work really well. A balance of the two perhaps I guess. To some extent, I kind of mix Nichiren with my Zen as I chant 'Nam Myoho Renge Kyo' on the regular (among an eclectic mix of more general Mahayana mantras) alongside my Zazen practice.
I bought myself a Xiaomi Mi Band 5, its a basic fitness tracker which measures steps and heartbeat and a few other things. It’s supposed to give you more insight into your health... will let you know how I get on with it.
I tend to multitask when doing house work ....
Just to give a little insight into how I chose it — I had a few things I wanted, like activity tracking and heartrate tracking and oxygen saturation, and I found out that it was a lot cheaper to buy two devices. So I got an oxygen saturation fingerclip for 20 euro’s, and a Mi Band 5 for 32,50. The cheapest device which does all in one is a Garmin Vivosmart 4 for 100 euro’s.
So that does mean that my oxygen saturation is not tracked long term in places like the Band’s health app, but honestly it just reads 98-100% most of the time and if it drops below 90% you need to get a COVID test. It doesn’t need tracking over the long term, although VO2max is a nice thing to be able to track.
First few days with the Band... it’s not bad. If you use it like you’re supposed to, you get some insight into your fitness and your calorie expenditure. Which is what I wanted, I plan to use it to lose some kilo’s.
Well it's coming to the end of the summer holidays for many Kiwis, which means the island's popular beaches are almost empty during the weekdays...
The best part of the summer for many locals...we get our island back....
I've been going for walks everyday for years, however last October I started to powerwalk each morning after meditation, then around the beginning of this month I started to add jolking ( jogging body motion at a walking speed ) to the mix... so I now jolk from home to the beach, powerwalk along Oneroa beach, then jolk up past the lookout to the church then powerwalk back along the beach, jolk up the bush track and down to Owhanake bay and back home...
One day when I was out jolking a guy walking towards me smiled and said are you walking or jogging ? in a friendly joking manner, because I was moving so slow, I told him I was doing both and I call it "jolking" and he laughed...I have had people walking in the same direction overtake me with ease...
Well I just came across a youtube video about slow jogging AKA jolking, which I found quite interesting...
Slow and steady wins the rat race...
It rained today. Then the Sun came out.
I've torn my meniscus....woo!
Oh no! Take care. Do you need an operation?