Tag Archives: senryu

May 11 – A Victim Mentality Or….

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Victim Mentality? This is a dangerous topic.

Last week during a 5-day meditation retreat that I and 300 others attended, a special small group consultation session was offered to “anyone who has experienced trauma OR knows someone who has experienced trauma.” Duh! Crowd murmuring began immediately with the gist being: wouldn’t that include everyone here, if not everyone on the planet.

While first or second-hand trauma seem part of our times, does that mean we should “wallow in misery”?

A Healthline article, How to Identify and Deal with a Victim Mentality, written by Crystal Raypole (see http://www.healthline.com/health/victim-mentality), offers a lot of information on this malady. Here are a couple of highlights:

  1. “The victim mentality rests on three key beliefs: Bad things happen and will keep happening. Other people or circumstances are to blame. Any efforts to create change will fail, so there’s no point in trying.
  2. People identify with the victim role when they “veer into the belief that everyone else caused their misery and nothing they do will ever make a difference.”
  3. A victim mentality can be distressing and create challenges, both for those living with it and the people in their lives. But it can be overcome with the help of a therapist, as well as plenty of compassion and self-kindness.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6yUY7M9yfw

Today’s senryu: A Victim Mentality Or ….

It’s clear, we’re in pain –

should we tell everyone or

someone who can help?

May 7 – Last Day of Retreat

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magnoliagrovemonastery.org/photo-gallery

Sunday morning coming down … the last day of retreat is for final talks and final goodbyes. Some people linger as long as possible while others pack up early and are eager to return to home, family, work, and/or civilization.

The vast majority of retreatants are making promises to themselves and/or others to return again. There are many goodbye hugs and well wishes shared.

Today’s senryu: Last Day of Retreat

renewed spirits and

relief to move forward – yes

impermanence is

The six-hour drive home includes a lot of debriefing with car mates that had similar yet different experiences than you. Since retreatants are assigned living quarters by gender and meditation groups by chance, it’s very likely that each traveler has a different perspective on what was their favorite part of the retreat.

So long, Magnolia Grove.

magnoliagrovemonastery.org/photo-gallery

May 5 – Third Day Routine

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magnoliagrovemonastery.org/general

A Magnolia Grove retreat includes a lot of silent time. Chatter is discouraged to enhance the collective solitude for all.

However, by the third day, a routine is established and we learn when and where to take mini-breaks. New friendships are made and/or old friendships enriched.

Today’s senryu: Third Day Routine

comfort through structure

predictable peacefulness

barriers come down

magnoliagrovemonastery.org/general/photos-how-to-live

Apr 21 – Good One, Mark Twain

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https://www.onthisday.com/people/mark-twain

Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) born November 30, 1835, in Missouri and died April 21, 1910, in CT, at the age of 74 from a heart attack. An American author most known for his classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, published in 1885.

Known for his humorous and insightful quips, here are a few of my favorites:

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

“When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it’s a sure sign you’re getting old.”

“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.”

http://www.azquotes.com/author/Mark_Twain

Today’s senryu: Good One, Mark Twain

enjoy life today

tomorrow too, if it comes

humor helps a lot

Apr 18 – RIP Albert Einstein

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https://www.onthisday.com/people/albert-einstein

The world’s most famous theoretical physicist (E=mc2), Albert Einstein was born March 14, 1879, and died April 18, 1955.

“On 17 April 1955, Einstein experienced internal bleeding caused by the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which had previously been reinforced surgically in 1948 …

Einstein refused surgery, saying, “I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share; it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.” He died in the (medical center) early the next morning at the age of 76 …

Einstein spoke of his spiritual outlook in a wide array of original writings and interviews. He said he had sympathy for the impersonal God of Baruch Spinoza’s philosophy. He did not believe in a personal god who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings, a view which he described as naïve. He clarified, however, that “I am not an atheist preferring to call himself an agnostic, or a “deeply religious nonbeliever”. When asked if he believed in an afterlife, Einstein replied, “No. And one life is enough for me.” …

In a memorial lecture delivered on 13 December 1965, nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer summarized his impression of Einstein as a person: “He was almost wholly without sophistication and wholly without worldliness … There was always with him a wonderful purity at once childlike and profoundly stubborn.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein

Today’s senryu: RIP Albert Einstein

knowing when to go

living and dying your way

profoundly childlike

Apr 17 – Erato, to you, too

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Erato, in Greek mythology, is the goddess of lyric poetry and her sister Calliope is the goddess of epic poetry and eloquence, both were one of the Muses. Apollo is the Roman god of the sun, healing, music, and poetry. Bragi, son of Odin, is the Norse god of poetry and music, revered for his wisdom, his eloquence, his ability to compose and recite. He was also the god of ceremony.

So many gods and goddesses of poetry. So many words.

Today’s senryu: Erato, to you, too

one more chance to say

i love you, Erato, i

really, really do

Are you a logophile, too?

Apr 16 – Animal Theology

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Linzey

Andrew Linzey (born 2 February 1952) is an English Anglican priest, theologian, and prominent figure in Christian vegetarianism. He is a member of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oxford, and held the world’s first academic post in Ethics, Theology and Animal Welfare, the Bede Jarret Senior Research Fellowship at Blackfriars Hall.

He is most often quoted as saying

Animals are God’s creatures, not human property, nor utilities, nor resources, nor commodities, but precious beings in God’s sight. … Christians whose eyes are fixed on the awfulness of crucifixion are in a special position to understand the awfulness of innocent suffering. The Cross of Christ is God’s absolute identification with the weak, the powerless, and the vulnerable, but most of all with unprotected, undefended, innocent suffering.

https://web.archive.org/web/20141029033113/http://www.jesusveg.com/index2.html

Today’s senryu: Animal Theology

sacred in her sight

interbeing – kin we are

thank you, Etta Pearl

https://www.strayrescue.org/

Apr 14 – The Beauty of What Remains

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https://www.steveleder.com/about

https://www.steveleder.com/books

Just finished, Steve Leder’s book, The Beauty of What Remains; what a wonderful book for understanding how

  1. suffering and love inter-are,
  2. the deep connection with ancestors who give meaning to our lives, and
  3. our honor and responsibility to recognize and pass on life’s lessons.

I am so grateful for Katya Lidsky, Life Coach for Dog People, for recommending this book. I now highly recommend it to you, dear reader.

Today’s senryu: The Beauty of What Remains

hard-working parents

see and share the joie de vivre

embrace the beauty

Apr 13 – Life Continues On

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http://www.judycannato.com/index.html

Judy Cannato was an American Catholic author, retreat facilitator, and spiritual director. She died from a rare form of cancer in 2011, at the age of 62. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Cannato.

Fortunately, before her death, she gave us these encouraging words:

“[Jesus] engaged death with every bit of consciousness and freedom that were his, and what we all discovered as a result is that death—while inevitable, while altering our dreams and causing us to let go of everything—does not have the final word. There is always—always—resurrection. And what is resurrection for us, in the context of the new universe story? It is a transformation in consciousness, an experience of transcendence in which we live out of the connectedness that is our truth. As we continue to evolve in consciousness, continue to emerge as more and more capable lovers, we share in the resurrection of Christ. We not only walk in the Light, we become light for others. Even little resurrections that come after choosing to die to fear and egocentricity release the Spirit. When we engage in a lifetime of death and resurrections as Jesus did, we become ever more empowered to do the work God asks us to do.  

Life and death are a single mystery. That is what the Paschal Mystery teaches us. Death is inevitable—but so is resurrection. We can be sure that dyings will intrude upon our lives, and we may have some choice about how we can respond to their coming. We can be awake and watchful for the resurrections as well, for the creative ways that new life streams into our lives even in the midst of death. Like supernova explosions that shatter every recognizable fragment of life [and scatter elements for new stars], we are capable of transcendence, capable of never allowing death to have the final say.” 

Judy Cannato, Radical Amazement: Contemplative Lessons from Black Holes, Supernovas, and Other Wonders of the Universe (Notre Dame, IN: Sorin Books, 2006), 122.

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Judy’s words remind me of the often-quoted wedding ceremony quote: “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  1 Corinthians 13:13.

What is the difference between the three? “Faith is grounded in the reality of the past; hope is looking to the reality of the future” and love is understanding and acting in the present moment. https://www.gotquestions.org/difference-faith-hope.html

Here’s today’s senryu: Life Continues On

little deaths, big deaths,

many deaths come and always

life continues on