Unity in Diversity Reminder
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Drought-Pattern Clouds (Sure Are Pretty)
Looking for the good.
My Dharma?
My dharma, whatever I might have thought it is, according to Maitri, is being her cat bed. Is it possible to have multiple dharmas?
For the past hour or so, one of my neighbors has been shoveling the sidewalk. He is a young teenager; for a while a younger girl was out with him, too. They both had shovels and were working pretty vigorously. I always wave and say hi to these neighbors, but have an uneasy relationship with them. In the 19 years I have lived on the block, various members of the household (though not these particular kids) have broken into my house and threatened me and my neighbors. People who live in the house and their visitors regularly throw litter into my yard, and other neighbors have reported that they have caught kids currently living in the house throwing stones at houses and cars.
The shoveling was going on for a long time and the sounds were getting closer. Sure enough, this young man, perhaps because he was feeling trapped by being stuck in the house all day and was feeling full of energy, was shoveling the entire sidewalk, including the space in front of my house. I am delighted and grateful. I was not looking forward to going out and doing it myself. I will make certain to thank him. He has reminded me that I need always to be open to receiving the good from whatever source, however unexpected.
Looking for the good.
My dharma, whatever I might have thought it is, according to Maitri, is being her cat bed. Is it possible to have multiple dharmas?
Ruda, who is both the ancestor of Shiva and another name for Shiva, is known as the howler. Rudra is wild and fierce. Rudra rages. I heard Paul Muller-Ortega recently describe Rudra. He said Rudra rages, but offered that there are lots of things against which to rage, such as injustice and inflicted suffering.
The idea of Shiva/Rudra raging has filled my contemplations for the last week. The questions that arise for me is “what is divinely inspired rage?” “When is fierceness or rage serving to expand love and compassion rather than just destroying the self or others?”
When are rage and destruction necessary to optimize the flow of energy? I think of Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi. I think of a surgeon removing a tumor. When I think of the ongoing war in Iraq; the newest reports of torture; the potential that corporate interests, ignorance, and bigotry may completely undermine this country’s coming to agreement on providing basic health care for all, I think that living a quiet life is not fully engaging a life of the spirit. How do I find a place of non-attached, but fierce action? How do I find Rudra and not get distracted by personal desires for outcome (and personal desires for simple peace and quiet)? When should I howl, to whom should I howl, and what?
This rage, this fierceness, must come from a grounding in the heart with the discrimination of study and practice. If I cannot find it myself, can I at least support those with the courage and wisdom to be directly engaged?
