Grass Hut - 2 - Living Lightly On The Land

[Stacy]

Crackers break, hackers are clever.

The hacker who cracks puts on a black hat. The weight lifter who plays baseball grips a baseball bat.




Gassho,
Stacy

#SatToday

[Risho]

Hahaha

Lisa/catherine. Very, very cool stuff. Thank you.

Gassho

Risho
-sat today

[Shoka]

This is a discussion that is often near and dear to my heart. I grew up at or just below the poverty line, I knew people well below who struggled all the time, and then also had people well above who sat on their high horses not understanding why we didn't buy organic and shop at the farms market because it's not that much more expensive.

At the moment many Christians are undertaking lent leading up to Easter. I recently had an interesting conversation about lent and the idea of giving up something with some people at lunch. The conversation started because someone didn't come with us because they had given up animal products for lent. Someone made the comment, "It's so stupid to give things up it's not going to make a difference in the end. You're still going to die." A couple people agreed, and commented on how silly lent was because people thought they were going to gain some favor with God.

I offered this story in return, "My father does lent every year. And I often ask him what he is giving up. This year he countered by asking, "what are you giving up?" I replied, "Dad, I'm not Christian, so I don't do lent." His reply really caught me by surprise. He said, "But you have a good life, a roof over your head, food on your table. Within reason when you want something you can have it. So you should give something up to remind you that you have a good life and to be thankful for all you have. And to remember that there are a lot of people with less."

My lunch companions were not as touched by his reply as I was. One even said, "I should indulge to remind myself that I have a good life, I'm going to order an extra meal!"

The reason I tell this story is because it reminded me of what Ben says on page 23:

The Middle way, the path between the one extreme of hardcore asceticism, which tries to rise above suffering by denying our bodies and the other extreme of hedonism, which tries to deal with suffering by indulging our endless desires.

I think people have a reaction to swing between the two poles, until they settle into the middle way. And that looks different for everyone.

The other part of this chapter that really struck me was page 25:

I believe this: we need to retreat, we need to spend time being simple and focusing on being at ease in the moment, in order to fully manifest our capacity to be of service.

Gassho,

Shoka
sattoday

[Joyo]

Hi,

Before we can sit together and talk about this subject, lets gather a few necessary items. We need the Internet and a few computers. Chatting around the fire wont do because we are too far away from each other. We could chop down a tree, two or three (or a forest) for snail mail paper, but that would be too slow.

We probably need to make sure the Internet service does not go down so we can have a proper discussion. We need some security so that our computers and worldwide Internet does not go kaput too often. I am not sure what it takes to keep hackers from bringing down computers and the Internet but I am sure it’s not cheap.

We probably need some cyber security and also cops to keep thugs from stealing our computers. But if the thug is really big, the military has to step in the keep the cops safe. The big guns aren’t cheap.

Ok. Let me boot up my computer and we are ready to rock and roll! Lets talk about the ecological footprint of…..?

Just saying…

Gassho, Jishin, _/st\_

With all due respect, may I suggest that you just sit.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today

[Jishin]

With all due respect, may I suggest that you just sit.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today

Off course!

Gassho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Ansan]

The posts are so inspirational...and diverse. So much to think of and to let go of.

I do not advocate living in poverty if it is not a choice or something that can be changed. Is it poverty or living minimally? It is a matter of choice and choosing to be happy. Would we chose wealth if it dropped in our laps or reject it to live that minimalist life just because it is fashionable? Would that make us happy? How would we dispense an insanely large inheritance wisely? Why think of these things if our lives offer us certain choices and not others? Isn't that dreaming and not just living as we are? Here, now, with who we are?

My husband and I chose the life we are now living. We left our material goods behind along with the privileges of living in a city which, in addition to other "luxuries", such as an adequate connection to the internet. We live here, in the desert, without...what? We have all we need. There are things we have accumulated since our departure from the city. Because we are building (still) our house with indigenous and found materials, our neighbors with good intention have brought us materials that they felt we could use. At first, we were too intimidated by their kindness to refuse the scratched windows, the broken doors, various rusted nails and screws, broken building blocks, ancient unrepairable washing machines. Stuff accumulates. And we are sometimes idiots. Old cars that still run but require extraordinary expense to make them useful...we donated them to a junk dealer. Hauling things to the dump is a little more cumbersome than allowing the city trash removal to pick it all up. I am not complaining. This is just the other side of bliss. BTW, some of the "stuff" we kept and were incorporated into a few of our building projects. Broken ceramic tiles made excellent mosaics for our vestibule floor, fireplace mantel and unfinished bathroom.

I do not post often because the internet is through our cell phone. Transmission is very poor. I would like to become more active here with all of you but this is the life we have chosen together. It is all good. And I am too verbose anyhow.

Life, unfortunately, is expensive if I want to keep my teeth, wear clothes, eat food, drive a car and have some so-called luxuries like buying some new brushes, paints or canvas. Or feeding our dogs raw meat and vegetables because I feel they are healthier on that diet. Or splurging on magazine subscriptions that keep us informed because we chose not to have a TV. Besides, reception is very poor and satellites are expensive.

What makes people unhappy in any situation, whether they live in a grass hut or a 150,000 sq. foot mansion on a mountain facing the ocean? The same thing that makes them contented if they would only be aware of life as it is, with or without stuff. Stuff is just stuff. It is all a matter of attitude and choice. And daily Zazen.

Gassho,
Ansan

SatToday

[Myosha]

"And daily Zazen"

Amen


Gassho
Myosha sat today

[Hogo]

I have nothing, it is all just borrowed.
Gassho.
Hogo.
Sat Today.

[ForestDweller]

I posted what's below to this thread several days ago, but I don't see that it made it, so here it is again.

I’ve been away for a while. I have been sitting. Returning, I read the long string of conversations about “Living Lightly on the Land.” Who am I to say, but it all sounds very nervous and in some cases full of rationale. Doesn’t “living lightly” come down to “avoid[ing] leaving big scars on the earth” and “avoid[ing] laying waste to lots of life.” In short, being mindful and “intimate with what you consume.” The world did just fine before humanity entered the picture, and it will do just fine when we are gone. We are the ones thrashing in between, tugging between being true to our higher values and hanging on to what we’ve become attached to.
As I read through the posts, I tried to pick up on the threads and patterns that danced among them. The most significant commonality was the number of times being in nature was mentioned in various ways. Why do so many find being in nature so restorative whether it be Willow’s garden of “refuge and beauty,” or KellyRok’s “sleeping under the stars,” or Anshu/Bryson’s need for “space – sky, ocean, forest.” I venture to say that it’s because this is our real home, with or without a grass hut or a mansion. This is where we come from, where we’re born and where we will each lay down our heads and die. There’s nothing artificial that matches nature’s immensity, its ability to heal, and its capacity to show us the “way.” That’s why re-using, donating, and relying on renewable resources feels right; we are taking care of our home, the place where we all belong.
So, why are our priorities confused, Jundo asks. Simply put, it’s because we aren’t at home enough, and because we have mass media ever-ready to distract us (Matt’s point). When we wander around playing with our toys, possessions, our real and imagined needs, we get distracted and forget about our home. Mass media, including social networking in some forms, also obscures our right view with its constant taste for violence and perversion, its comparisons with others, and its advertisements ramming material goods down our souls. The only way to change our minds is to come home (to nature) more often and to refuse to look or listen to very much mass media. The later doesn’t mean turning our backs on the world; it involves discernment in our choice of magazines and newspapers, and a whole lot less television and texting. From what I’m seeing and sensing in our group, this could be the path to reconciliation with our planet, and reunification with our home. But who am I to say? Remember that I live in a remote, northern forest, where I am at home every day. -- Forest Sitting - Catherine

[Jishin]

I would ask a rock what it thinks about living lightly on the land.

Gassho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Mp]

I would ask a rock what it thinks about living lightly on the land.

Gassho, Jishin, _/st\_

But a rock does not take more then what it needs. =)

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday

[Jishin]

But a rock does not take more then what it needs. =)

Gassho
Shingen

Hard to say since we are not rocks.

Gassho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Mp]

Hard to say since we are not rocks.

Gassho, Jishin, _/st\_

Ahhh ... but,

"The blue mountain is the father of the white cloud. The white cloud is the son of the blue mountain. All day long they depend on each other, without being dependent on each other. The white cloud is always the white cloud. The blue mountain is always the blue mountain." - Zen Master Tozan

The rock is no different ...

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday

[Jishin]

Ahhh ... but,

"The blue mountain is the father of the white cloud. The white cloud is the son of the blue mountain. All day long they depend on each other, without being dependent on each other. The white cloud is always the white cloud. The blue mountain is always the blue mountain." - Zen Master Tozan

The rock is no different ...

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday

Maybe so...



Gassho, Jishin, _/st\_

[RichardH]

I read this exchange and asked a rock. There was no reponse. I said ... "Think about it" and went for a stroll. When I returned there was still no answer . I cajoled it... "Don"t be so obtuse". Tried a compliment... "You have amazing equanimity "... still nothing . Finally I got angry and kicked the rock and it said nothing as I jumped around in pain.

The rock wins

Gassho
Daizan
Sattoday