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The moments in my day when I feel my mind is pure are during my evening bathing routine.
In the morning I fill a 10 litre bucket with rural water (agricultural grade water that comes straight from the river but not good for humans to drink). Throughout the day it heats up from the Sun. When I get back from my afternoon walk with an older bloke who lives nearby I'm often filled with frustration or anger. This is due to my walking partner being ignorant, casually racist, sexist and prone to BS.
My bathing is done outside in the open. I sit on a wooden bench, add some tea tree oil to the water, reciting to myself the Verse On Entering Bath. I then wash myself with lemongrass soap and a really soft cloth. I'm Autistic so the soft cloth soothes my mind. I then use a small bowl to scoop out water from the bucket to rinse myself with reciting the Verse After Each Of The Foregoing (bath) before drying myself. By the time I dry myself I've gone from frustrated or angry to a feeling of a cleansed mind and body. This ritual bathing is my current understanding of having a pure mind.
Apologies for the length and gross imagery.
Gassho
Onka
Sat
Hi Onka;
Thanks for your sincere sharing of your experience. It's wonderful that you are able to use this ritual as a cleansing. What I would like you to consider is if you could manage to cut the frustration closer to the root. That is when communing with you walking partner, As the frustration, anger, whatever emotion arises counter it with a positive feeling. This immediate action doesn't allow the emotion to take hold. By holding on to it for a time you may be missing a teaching that the old sob is gifting you. It would also allow yourself to walk home much more peacefully. Just a Thought.
Good to see you here, Thanks and metta
gassho, Shokai
Thank you Shokai.
I refer to my walking partner as my most important current teacher as I look inward to find why I react as I do. And yes, I intend to finish my walk with him, then walk along a horse track at a pace faster than kinhin but just as present due to spinal stuff as a postscript to our walk and a precursor to my bathing ritual.
I'll keep you posted with progress.
Gassho
Onka
ST
Good to see you back. I hope you are not being too hard on yourself. We all have an abundance of defilements and regrets. It takes faith in the system to realize relief by continuous atonement. I know when I first started repeating the verse of atonement every night I wondered what I was doing or if it was doing anything but, gradually every once in a while I'd have a breakthrough. Patience and persistence pay off.
Thanks for your sincere sharing of your experience. It's wonderful that you are able to use this ritual as a cleansing. What I would like you to consider is if you could manage to cut the frustration closer to the root. That is when communing with you walking partner, As the frustration, anger, whatever emotion arises counter it with a positive feeling. This immediate action doesn't allow the emotion to take hold. By holding on to it for a time you may be missing a teaching that the old sob is gifting you. It would also allow yourself to walk home much more peacefully. Just a Thought.
Good to see you here, Thanks and metta
gassho, Shokai
gassho, Shokai