Dana - Selfless Giving ( was Hurricane Zen)

I am getting ready to ride out Hurricane Ike. I have prepared well and now just leave it up to the winds of fate, literally. I am far enough inland that the hurricane winds won''t quite reach here, just the tropical storm winds of under 74 MPH starting late tonight and throughout the day tomorrow. Power outages are likely, so not much to do but sit if/when that occurs. Lots of anxiety all around because of this, but in an odd way I look forward to it, yet in a sad way it is hard to see what it will do to those closer to this Huge storm. It's all ONE.

I'll be back when I can. In the mean time, your intrepid reporter signing out....

Our thoughts are with everyone out there.

Folks, not just for this but it is a good time to remind everyone of our commitment to Dana (Selfless Giving). I do not take contributions for Treeleaf, because we have enough for what we do here. But I ask everyone to instead contribute to causes that help folks. This came to mind again when I read the following yesterday.

Yes, you are expected to put something in the begging bowl. Remember, the giver, giving and recipient of the gift are one. In fact, if you do not feel the "pinch"of selfless giving, you are missing something vital and necessary to what we do here. Give until it hurts.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gDm7 ... AD934ODS82

Quote:

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In flooded Haitian city, 'Every home is a shelter'

By JONATHAN M. KATZ – 1 day ago

GONAIVES, Haiti (AP) — In a cathedral surrounded by mud and flood waters, the 34-year-old motorcycle taxi driver shivers on a pew, wrapped in a sheet and delirious from fever.

He struggles to remember the names of his four children, one of whom died when two storms submerged Gonaives and the villages around it in vile muck.

That was 10 days ago. Since then, Avel'Homme Latortue's home has been the dank choir gallery of St. Charles Borromee Cathedral, on a plaza across from a prison. Inside, the air is stale with sweat, the pews covered with the muddy clothes of 500 people with little food or water, and with nowhere to go.

"Sleeping is hard when you're this hungry," Latortue says. "Waking up is hard too."

Authorities say at least 50,000 people are in shelters in Gonaives. But that statistic hardly covers the extent of the tragedy.

In a metropolitan area of 300,000, four out of five homes is damaged. Those whose houses were spared are each taking in as many as 100 people, many of them total strangers.

"Every home is a shelter right now," says Yolene Surena, the city's top civil protection official. "Every remaining one."

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If you don't know where to donate ... here is a good one ...

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

Gassho, Jundo (former Floridian)

The Red Cross is also a good place to donate time/money, as they are way below fund-raising goals due to the economy. Plus, they have been stretched pretty thin due to recent disasters. You can donate, as I just did, through this link:
http://american.redcross.org/site/PageS ... =ntld_main

I sat zazen with the building storm this morning. It was literally a body tingling and heart pounding experience. Later, I had to turn off the TV because it distorts the reality of the storm right here and now. TV adds to the anxiety but it also subtracts by distraction from the here and now reality. So it's just a distortion compared to zazen. Same goes for looking online for Ike news.

Alan! I was just watching the weather channel and they had a map showing Nacadoches in there. I figured you'd be getting tropical storm winds and buckets of rain. Please stay safe.

Hi,

My wife and I like to support this organization: http://www.sos-usa.org/Pages/default.aspx

They really help where help is needed - and are not affiliated with any particular religion.

Gassho
Ken

Thanks Tracy. I just got Internet back a couple hours ago. Electricity was out two days here, but others in town were out all week.

I sat out and watched the whole thing, except for a brief time when tree limbs were literally flying all over the place. I couldn't do zazen while watching the storm, but I did just try to sit with it and BE with it as much as I could.

It's nice to be back online here.

Nice to have you back Alan.

Ron

OH, I forgot why I even started this thread! Hurricane Zen wasn't meant to be a weather blog, and the dana idea (a good one) was obviously Jundo's. My purpose was to try and convey all the stuff that I (we?) add on to experience, and a grand hurricane experience seemed a good place to start. This is also related to my "ONE wall spot" thread I just started.

I kept a journal for just the storm. You will be glad to know that I will spare you all that's in it, but here are some abbreviated highlights:
* TV news and weather reports just distract from and distort the reality of the storm that is right here and now. They subtract from the experience, so I turn it off. But when it covers storms elsewhere, all I can do is watch.
* Zazen as the storm built was intense yet not difficult. My practice was not strong enough to do zazen during the strongest part of the storm, because things outside of me were too intense. Zazen the day after the storm was difficult because things outside and inside weren't intense enough. Weird!
* During the storm I add excitement and anxiety to the situation. The day after the storm I add boredom to the situation. When everyone around us had electricity but we didn't, I added frustration to the experience. And I am better at recognizing all that I added to these situations that I am at letting those add-ons go.
* Being without electricity allows me to discover previously unknown attachments, such as how electricity has such a strong influence on my daily routines. An odd example is how I now know that I am strongly averse to the idea of going to the bathroom in the dark.