I plan to return to Jikoji for the Sunday meditation and Dharma talk Tomorrow. I am looking forward to it. Tommy may come along. If he does, I will suggest he drive separately, as I plan to stay for the full morning and lunch.
I shy away from labeling myself a "Buddhist." I find the effort to embrace a zen practice and philosophy challenging. Yet, alongside my parallel inquiry into Stoicism, I have identified some 81 foundational ideas that are working for me; I am finding light.
Making a point to sit in silence or engage in guided meditation each day has helped make living "in the present moment" achievable—at least for a while. It's achievable, but not yet sustainable for more than a fraction of the time spent getting there. But it's something.
So is a healthier perspective. Jennifer says that I can be very judgmental. If that is true, it's nothing conscious or intentional, and I would like to leave all of that behind.
The other valuable aspect of slowing down, taking time for introspection, and recognizing how little I can control and how fleeting it all is anyway is that it makes me appreciate life so much more consistently than I ever recall doing.
Like the book I read two years ago, "A Year to Live," it helps to plant the seed of looking at all you encounter as if you had a year to live. Doing so can change a lot of your focus. And that seed has taken root enough to just be breaking through the soil.