A Short Walk ~ 远足
I didn't finish my breakfast today and I don't have much to write about today. The day to day adventure of mine isn't that interesting.
My dad and I did go on a walk through the woods yesterday. That was a lot of fun. The woods were filled with fallen over or bent trees. The ground was a strange combination of dried cracked earth with spots of soft, squishy mud.
Frogs, cat fish, squirrels, birds, and deer all moved about around us. We even saw many mountain bikers riding through quickly on the trails. We ended up following a small river in the search of some ducks. My dad spotted two but they saw us first and began to fly further down stream. We continued to track them for a while but decided to just head back home, the ducks were better than our stealth.
The walk was enjoyable and it taught me what kind of lens I'd need for a hiking trip like that. Definitely a zoom lens. I had my 25mm and 45-150mm lenses on me. The 25mm lens was on my camera in the beginning but I quickly switched to the 45-150mm. Also, waterproofing is a must as I can't tell you how nervous I was crossing logs over the stream. Every step was slow and methodical so that nothing would fall into the algae covered water below. That is one more thing: a quick camera bag. Something that securely holds my one or two lenses and filters. That way I'm not always checking my pockets.
A short but worth while trip.
Mindfulness ~ 正念
"One should not be attached to sensual pleasures. One should not be scattered and confused, for this brings all kinds of suffering. One should be kind and persistent in keeping the pure precepts and have conviction that practicing meditation is most blissful."
-The Way to Buddhahood, pg. 93
Mindfulness is very hard to keep. A thought I had yesterday is mindfulness isn't living impulsively. To live without thought or just following your impulses isn't being mindful. Being mindful is being aware of every action that you make. Being conscious of why you are doing what you are doing. This requires strong concentration, which ends up building good habits.
As I read more into "The Way to Buddhahood", I'm coming across what the various precepts are. There are different sets of precepts for different kinds of people. Laypeople (or "normal people") simply have 5 precepts to follow. They can, on certain days or holidays, keep an extended set of precepts. For monks, there are 10 precepts to follow.
📿Do not kill
📿Do not steal
📿Do not engage in improper sexual conduct
📿Do not make false statements
📿Do not drink alcohol (Or do not consume any intoxicant)
These are very similar to the ten commandments of Christianity. The precepts for being a monk get very specific and difficult. I'm not sure how one is able to keep them all. I see how that would be able to change you completely. No "frivolous talk", not having anger, greed or deviant views. No lying, gossip (which is different from frivolous talk), or offensive language.
How do they do it? I can see how in a temple you can, but in the outside, day to day life. How? Even the no killing applies to all living beings. Even mosquitos?
Hope you all have a good week.
📿Johnny