It's no secret...I love the woods and love riding in the woods. I love to bring a camera as a way to document my journeys and take pictures of interesting things I find. I don't have hemorrhoids in this picture.
In the photo above, I am at the start of a trail that runs for 78 miles from the Douglas State Forest in Douglas, MA to the ocean at Blue Shutter Beach in Charlestown, RI. I know where the whole trail goes but have never ridden the whole length of it at once. Some day I will. Below is a picture of Blue Shutter Beach...nice place...
The world can be so beautiful and yet, so ugly. The ugliest things in the world are greed and hate. In Buddhism, it is simple: do good and don't do evil.
Life is full of pain. I'm an empathic person and sometimes I feel like I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. Like my own pain is not enough, I must carry every one else's as well. This may sound insane but it is who I am. This is why, over the last few years, I have decided that there is more to life than spending a large amount of my waking hours selling software or cell phones or any variety of other crap to crappy people. I think I have a higher purpose. I'm working on figuring out what that is and what it looks like. A good start would probably be to not call people crappy but some just are...and that is their problem and doesn't have to be mine.
I know what it doesn't look like. Life doesn't look like people treating people like pieces of furniture. It doesn't look like people controlling people or hurting people or taking from people. It doesn't look like a guy riding a bike with hemorrhoids.
I am a member of a Buddhist community. Life looks pretty good there. Life moves slowly. People care about each other. They care about what they eat. They don't care about having any more than they need. If they have more than they need, they give the rest to others in need. The people at the Zen Center remind me of what the Native people must have been like.
There is a TV in one of the common rooms at the Zen Center and I have never seen it on. I have never seen a cell phone or iPad or computer of any kind in use there. It makes me wonder: how much of the "stuff" that we have do we really need? How much of the stuff that we don't have but feel we need do we, in fact, really need?
What is a need? Do people even know any longer? Real needs are things like: subsistence, protection, affection, understanding, participation, leisure, creation, identity and freedom. This morning I spoke to a 92 year old gentleman named Roland at an assisted living community. I have to tell you, he looked like he was in his 70s at the most. He wore a big smile and was happy to spend some time talking to me and I was happy to talk with him. Someone there called him the mayor. I'm pretty sure most of Roland's needs were fulfilled. I don't know for sure if he has affection in his life today but I think he does and I know he has the rest.
Roland is one of those angels you come across in your life. He teaches you a lesson if you are open to receive it. I want to spend more time with people like Roland. I don't want to ride a bike with hemorrhoids. That is just painful!
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