Finding a Heart

Edinburgh Castle from Castle Street.

The New Year is a time of reflection in so many ways. I found myself thinking of all the old traditions that surrounded New Year in my youth.  How the fireplace had to be cleaned spotless and a new fire laid and made ready to be set alight just after midnight.

Then off we set to visit the neighbours in their homes. We took with us a bottle of whiskey to offer the neighbours a toast, a lump of coal to bring them warmth and a piece of shortbread to symbolise the desire that they ate well in the coming year.

Every year we made new year resolutions, promising to do so many things, of which most were forgotten before January came to an end.

When I became a minister of religion I re-established some traditions that had slipped away. I rang the church bells at midnight.  After the service, which finished just after midnight I invited so many people over to the manse they could hardly all get in.

Now, it comes and goes. No longer to I make resolutions other than to continue as I have been in the year just gone. I hope that my year has been fruitful to others as much as to myself, so why promise to make any changes.

I do like to make a real effort to apologise to anybody I have hurt in any way whatsoever during the year now gone. I do so even now in this blog to anybody I may have offended and not yet been aware and apologised.

All the thinking and promises in the world are meaningless unless they are truly meant.

The old wise sage was talking with his disciples one day.

"Of what use are your learning and your devotions?

 Does a donkey become wise through living in a library or a mouse acquire holiness from living in a church?"

"What is it, then, we need?" asked one disciple.

"A heart."

"How does one get that?"

The Master would not say. What could he say that they wouldn't turn into a subject to be learned or an object of devotion?

Another year in which to get on a do the things we artists do. With all our heart aspire to make people enjoy what they see, touch and feel.

This blog is linked to my other. Edinburgh Castle From George Street.

I Am Angry With You But Never Mind.

I sure do not want to make him any angrier with me so he will remain nameless. He had come up to the village and left his wallet at home. He wanted to write me an IOU for the price of a pint of milk and a dram and half pint of ale.


I refused point blank to accept his IOU, instead I offered to purchase the pint of milk and then go with him while he had his whisky and his half pint of ale. I would then drive him home. We had spent a good time at our vegetable plots and the time together relaxing would be worth every penny. He reluctantly agreed. It was while I was driving him home his pride got the better of him and he said, “I am angry you would not accept my IOU.”

I told to stop fassing ( a good Scottish word) because as sure as sure there would come a day very soon when I would do the same. Age is catching up with me I told him I forget things all the time.

Friendship is the most wonderful thing we have and it has to be cherished. I have decided I will probably forget my wallet next week some time.

I will do this because of some of the things life has taught me over the years. Let me share just one or two of them with you.

I've Learned.

I’ve learned-

that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.

I’ve learned-

that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.

I’ve learned-

that no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I’ve learned-

that it’s not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts.

I’ve learned-

that you should never ruin an apology with an excuse.

I’ve learned-

that it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I’ve learned-

that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I’ve learned-

that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I’ve learned-

that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I’ve learned-

that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

This is the way of Tao.

That is by far not an exhaustive list but I do not want to send you away weary.

I have also learned that you can meet the nicest people in the world of blogging and miss them when you do not hear from them.

This blog is linked to my other. The Litter Bin

The Farmer and His Mule

Two weeks today will have been married for forty years. Any such event brings with it many questions. Yesterday I was being asked by my family what I wanted to do to celebrate the event. My initial thought was why not wait another ten years and see what happens. I have an amazing gift for procrastination. I did manage to avoid having to make a decision yesterday but the process makes you stop and wonder about the forty years and the ones spent prior to marriage. I found myself wondering about the memorable moments and what effects they had had.


I discovered a strange thing. The moments that had most changed my life were those moments that given a choice I might have avoided. An example, the time I was forced not to speak for six months. Six months when the silence brought isolation, almost. Being on the edge of most conversations, a listener, rather than an active participant. To then be told this might have to be the way it would be for the rest of my life, and all that meant.

Now in reflection I have discovered this was a turning point, but also a very deep and meaningful moment. It was a mule moment. Let me explain by sharing with you the story of the farmer and his mule.

One day the mule fell into the farmer’s well. The farmer heard the mule making a terrible noise in its fear and desperation. After carefully assessing the situation, he sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbours together, told them what had happened, and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back, He would shake it off and step up!

This he did, blow after blow. “Shake it off and step up…shake it off and step up…shake it off and step up!” He repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or how distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought panic and just kept right on and on shaking it off and stepping up!

It wasn’t long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well!

What seemed like it would bury him actually helped him . . . all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.

This is the way of Tao!

Face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity. Find that inner being. From that six months I realize I had my first taste of art, and much more.

This blog is linked to my other;  The Coastal Path

The Examination

I was reading Kathleen's blog the other day, where she was telling of her last days at school before the summer vacation. She has ended up taking an awkward schedule next year. This happened because she is a kind and caring person. The behaviour of her fellow teachers, was to say the least, shocking, and at its worst petty minded.


It reminded me of my teaching days. My first and last thoughts were always for my students. There were times when that became very difficult when teachers, whom one expected more of behaved worse than the students.

As I have said before, or more than one occasion, the bad times were more than compensated by the joys of seeing students grasp a lesson and move on. Occasionally an exceptional event would happen that put everything into its place and you became aware that you had indeed changed a life.

There is the story of the philosophy examination. The students were gathered and ready. It was explained to the class that the maximum time was an hour. There was no maximum or minimum number of words to be written. If students were finished they were to leave their work on the desk and leave quietly.

The Master placed a chair on the desk at the front of the room. He then wrote on the chalkboard , “Using all that you have learned this term prove that this chair does not exist.”

Pens moved over the paper. Scoring out and writing was going on all over the room. Some students wrote pages and pages, others worked hard and studiously. One student however, was finished in less than two minutes. He folded his answer and left.

When the marks were posted the following week, the class were amazed to see he had an A1, he had after all written very little.

His answer was simple and to the point. He had written, “What chair?”

When the student has surprised the master then the master has been a good teacher. Who will you help to the next stage without knowing it?  Do not be deterred from the path by the complaints of others.

This blog is linked to my other.  The Wall

The Joy of Obedience

Teaching can be such a joy; there is no greater pleasure in life than to see realisation dawn on the face of a student. But there is always the student for whatever reason, just wants to be awkward. I remember on such student who made a fellow teachers life miserable at every class. Frequently I had to remove him from her class and make him sit in my room and work on his own.


Having spoken with him a few times I began to understand that he carried with him a great amount of resentment. He had a difficult home life. The only time I saw him soften was the day I spoke to him of his mother. It became clear to me that this one the one good thing in his life, from his perspective.

I asked him one day to imagine, what it would be like if his mother went to work and all day people bullied her, or made her life torture. He instantly reacted. “I would kill them,” he said. A strong reaction, much exaggerated. I then pointed out to him that the teachers he daily made life miserable for, was mothers out doing a job. They were fathers who had sons and daughters. It seemed so simple, let him see people as real people not just teachers.

I got an email from him yesterday. What a joy. He has just been promoted in his teaching job.

A teacher gave regular lessons to students on a weekend. Many students from a neighbouring retreat joined his lessons making the master from there very angry. One morning he joined the students feeling even angrier when he saw how many attended.

“Hey, Zen teacher!” he called out. “Who ever respects you will do as you ask, but a man like me does not respect you. Can you make me do as you ask?”

“Come up beside me and I will show you,” said the master.

Proudly the teacher pushed his way to the front.

“Come to my left side,” said the master,

The teacher did as was asked.

“No,” said the master, “we will talk better if you are here on the right side. Step over here.”

Proudly the teacher did just that, he stepped to the right.

“You see,” said the master, “you do as I ask of you and I think you are a very gentle person. Now sit down and listen.”

The gentle way of the Tao.
 
 
This blog is linked to my other where I discuss the artwork used:- The Floral Dance

Learning Right From Wrong.

When I was a young lad my father took me walking every Sunday. He was not a believer in god, or for that matter religion. So Sunday became a special day for me, because that was the day I walked with my father. It seemed we walked for mile after mile. I now realise it only seemed that. One thing for sure, it was a learning experience.


He identified the different trees, the habits of birds and animals and the different flowers and their characters. In the midst of all this adventure he also taught me right from wrong. He pointed out dangers and things to be aware of. He did it gently with few words.

The other day there I was out walking. I was going along the path of the beautiful, Loch an Eilean. There is only wall small steading on this path, where there lives an old man and his dog. Electricity is fed to the home by a cable, high among the trees, on poles. It would be almost invisible if it were not for the large unsightly yellow warning notices on every tree. Not one on one pole but three on each. It is as if we cannot be told once. It spoils a beautiful area. I suppose it is part of the culture of health and safety, and the culture of blame. Have we lost the art of knowing right from wrong?

The master was running a summer meditation class for young people. Many gathered for the three week course. On the second day, a boy was seen by another stealing. The matter was reported to the master. It seemed he did nothing.

Two days later the same thing happened again. This time the other young people told the master, “If you do not send him home, we are all leaving.”

The master gathered all the students in the meditation room. He repeated to all the gathered what had happened. He then surprised them by saying, “If you choose to go home, then so be it. This young man here has not yet learned right from wrong. He more than all of you is in need of my help. If I do not help then how will he ever learn right from wrong?”

The young man was so moved he broke down in tears. From that day on he never stole again. He had his first lesson in the difference between right and wrong. He also learned the value of trust.


The picture above is a view of Loch an Eilean there is a path wanders all the way round. When I was running seriously I would run from the caravan site and round this path then back to the site a run of 10 miles. The other day I walked it savouring the beauty.



I have another blog where I discuss an artwork:-The Incoming Tide

I Do Not Know

I read an interesting book on art a few years ago. I was just starting to explore the possibilities of panting now that I had given up teaching. I visited the library and the title of the book seemed to catch my eye. “All you will ever need to know about art.” I found this an interesting title to say the least. Then I saw another, “The artists Bible of Art.” Now I am not sure that those titles are exact so do not go looking or surfing to find them. The titles are very close to my memories of them.


Both books had obviously been written by artists with a great deal of confidence in their subjects. The books were indeed sweeping in the sense that they gave the reader many options and possibilities. What I found a bit strange about these books was that both authors admitted to not actually using some of the mediums being described and yet they went on to give advice to the beginning artist on how to best use them.

I learned from these two books but from the chapters where it became clear the author had first hand knowledge of the topic. How much better a book this might have been had they left out the other chapters.

I had an interesting hour last night. My son invited me out for an evening glass of wine and a chat. I love those unexpected moments. On this occasion he was seeking knowledge that I could not give but my wife was well equipped to give. I quietly tuned my ears to a discussion of a group of men gathered at another table near by. I soon realised they were experts on golf. There was not a thing about golf it seemed they did not know.

I remembered the story of the discussion between the emperor and the master. The emperor felt that having reached the stage of life he had there was little that he had to learn. There was one thing only that he felt he needed the answer to so he approached the master who was older than he.

“Master,” he said “what happens to the enlightened man after death?” He was sure he was an enlightened man.

“How should I know?” asked the master.

“Because you are old and enlightened,” said the emperor.

“Yes sir,” said the master, “but fortunately not a dead one.”

No matter where we have reached there is always more to learn.

This is the way of the Tao.



Can I take today to once again thank all my blogging friends for the things they teach me day by day.

This blog is linked to my other blog where I discuss the artwork used:- Summer Evening Showers

Teaching and Learning

It was Sharon, (writer of a blog I follow and who sometimes reads mine) who commented on one of my blogs about the wonderful world of blogging. She was wondering how long, if ever, it would take the rest of the users of the internet to catch onto how great a place it was. She was concerned that when they did it would never be the same again. I have thought about that from time to time. There is no doubt at all there is a wonderful community of people in blogging. But why is it so?


I think we find it so because we are able to find people who are interested in the things we want to learn and the things we want to share and talk about. We can select the blogs we want to follow and those we do not. I am sure there are some terrible blogs in bloggers world; I have seen some as I thought about Sharon’s comment. Some that I disagreed with strongly and some that it surprises me people have taken the time to write. I am sure that there are many bloggers who think that what I write each day is a waste of time and space.

I often thought as a teacher how wonderful it would be to have only students who wanted to learn what I was trying to teach. To some extent I experienced this in those who chose to take my subject to examination level and those who opted to be part of my lunchtime teaching classes. These students had opted to learn in their time with me. They were hungry for knowledge and a joy to teach. Could you imagine a school where you only ever attended the classes you wanted to?

The other wonderful thing about bloggers world, is one minute we are teachers the next we are learners. It is a sharing and supporting experience. I feel privileged that people take the time to read my blog and comment and allow me into their world to learn from them.

There was once a professor who had been told of a wonderful sage. He thought he would visit this sage to see for himself. When he met the sage he introduced himself remembering to mention his qualifications and expertise. He told the sage he was there to learn. The sage pulled over his teapot and two cups. He began to pour tea into the cup of the professor, who was still talking and talking. He pored till the cup was full and then continued to pour. After a bit the professor said to him, “The cup is full you can get no more in it.” The sage said, “Yes, his cup is just like you. How can I teach anything to one who is already full and overflowing with what they know already?”


This blog is linked to my other where I discuss the artwork used:-The Spark of an Idea