Nun of Your Business

This morning I did something that is very scary for me. I apologized. It was about some difficult communication that happened yesterday. For me, apologizing seems like a superpower, a siddhi , a high attainment to be able to do it. When I hear other people apologizing instantly--without having to think about it, without even needing to be in the wrong--I think, "Wow, they are like superheroes." Anyway, sometimes I am forced to apologize for my own peace of mind. I knew that in this case, I wouldn't be able to rest easy until I did it. Oh, and, also, there was the other person's feelings. I needed to face my fear. I needed to find my courage and just go through with it, no matter how scary it might be. So I prepared my words, wrote them out. Then I did the mantras to bless one's speech. And I made an extra effort to generate divine pride--identifying with one's enlightened self-image. And then I went through the door and did it. Fortunately for me, the othe...

H.H. the Dalai Lama wearing a long zen . Do you have a very long robe, such as a full length zen (Tibetan monastic shawl, about 5 yards long), that gets all twisted up when you put it in a washing machine? And then it strangles other things and stuff doesn't get dry when you put it in the dryer? And even if it's a little bit dry it's all creased? Today I finally figured out how to prevent that. I folded the robe over once, and then again, and then pinned the corners with safety pins. It worked. When I pulled things out of the dryer, the robe wasn't all twisted into a knot. Now, the next problem: How to get oil out of cloth? It's almost as hard as getting attachment out of the mind.