Archive for May, 2010
I Always Loved This Teaching on Karma
May 21st, 2010 | 
Author: The following is taken from Snow Lion Publication’s newsletter. I always loved this example of karmic ripening, similar to the one about the pig’s tail covered with mud accidentally fixing a patch on a stupa. Everything matters.
Dharma Quote of the Week
[At the time of Buddha, a farmer asked to be ordained as a monk. Shariputra did not see his merit. But, with a great, compassionate mind, the Buddha took his hand and said, "I will give you ordination. You do have a seed to attain arhatship...."]
The Buddha explained, “Thousands and thousands of kalpas ago, this man was born as a fly. He was sitting on a pile of cow dung when a sudden rush of water caught the cow dung, along with the fly, and sent them into the river. Downstream, someone had placed a prayer wheel in the water, and that cow dung and fly swirled around and around it. Because of that circumambulation, this man now has a seed to attain arhatship in this lifetime.”
Cause and result are so subtle that only omniscient wisdom can perceive every detail. That is why we must be very careful that our actions are truly beneficial.
Reciting just one mantra, protecting the life of even one small bug, giving a small thing–we should not ignore such actions by saying, “This is nothing; it makes no difference if I do it or not.” Many small actions will gather and swell like the ocean. These are not merely Buddhist beliefs; these are the causes that create our world no matter who we are. Our study and practice give us the opportunity to understand this and to be sincere with ourselves even in small things.
–from A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path by Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen, edited by Khenmo Trinlay Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications
A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path • 5O% off • for this week only
(Good through May 28th).
Posted in 
My New Etsy Shop
I think it’s been three months since I really spent any time at my easel. Instead I’ve been creative in another endeavor: learning how to do e-commerce. Thought it would be easy. It’s not. Like painting, it requires daily work and lots of TLC for every creation (website) and while I am enjoying learning it, will probably love it more when I actually begin to earn some money from all my work! That’s kind of like painting, too, come to think of it! I’m in a coaching program because over the last year the one thing I definitely learned is that you have to find an ethical coach and community to learn from. So many ‘get rich quick’ schemes all over the internet and they teach you barely the basics and aren’t there for continued education. Through much investigation and asking around I found a great team who are the real deal and have themselves built a hugely successful business the old-fashioned way: hard and consistent work.
But that has taken all my time (aside from working) and so my easel’ s been gathering dust and the only painting I’ve done is when I’ve babysat the grandkids and we’ve had one of our painting parties. GREAT fun! I’ll have to remember to post some of their pix here soon.
In the last few weeks have been feeling the NEED to paint, the hunger to spread color on a board, to mix hues….so am playing around today getting my creative juices going again. I built my Etsy Shop to put my feet to the fire and plan to be more proactive about building my pet portrait business. The customers I have had had been pleased so I think I’m over the fear of really putting myself out there.
So that’s about it for an update. You probably thought I’d fallen in a hole it’s been so long!