Monday, December 25, 2006

zen Jews: so relaxed, so in tune with our guilt..

Another omnibus post, starting with counting some blessings.

-my dearest J's son is oozing at the site of his surgery. The surgery was supposed to implant a new port, for the family to use to give him clotting factor. He bled at the site, then oozed, then bled some more. But he's home now, resting and clotting. May it continue to be so.

- a friend's daughter is home tonight. She has leukemia, and was admitted with viral pneumonia. After a bad round, she went home today, Christmas day, to join the family. She is sixteen months old.

We do not celebrate Christmas, to the mild surprise of the Man's co-workers, who seem astonished that we do not even have a tree... But I know a cosmic gesture when I see one. Blessed be, for the health we have, the family who embrace us, the joys we choose to seek out.

And now, the omnibus!
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We're tweaking the gDiapers. After a happy month of flushing poop and pee, we're now facing the byproduct of our eco-guilt: higher costs. gDiaper inserts cost about 10 cents more per diaper, and with our seasonally tighter budget, that's going to hurt.

When the Man came home with non-organic milk for the Toddles, I decided it was time to put my foot down. Yes, we must save money, yes, we must sacrifice principle to fiscal realities, but perhaps - perhaps - we could do both at the same time.

The Man gave me a long suffering look, and patiently put the milk in the fridge. Pontificating, I looked down to find myself alone in the kitchen, and wandered off to the computer. Where I found this: bit of sage advice. Mom in Israel is right: if you have the patience and a good washing machine, cloth very well may be the way to go. So, tentatively, we're trying cloth inserts in our gDiapers.

Our first try was hemp inserts, which didn't quite hold their shape. Not really thick enough, the Man says, and I agree. They are fine when we are home, at leisure and able to change diapers rather often. Next up: Indian prefolds. M.i.I., where are you? I need a sage voice of experience! (especially one patient with blogger's sometimes idiotic commenting feature. Why *are* you having trouble?)

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With thanks to Dr. S., who sent this on from Israel:

ZEN JUDAISM
* If there is no self,
whose arthritis is this?

* Be here now.
Be someplace else later.
Is that so complicated?

* Drink tea and nourish life.
With the first sip... joy.
With the second... satisfaction.
With the third, peace.
With the fourth, a danish.

* Wherever you go, there you are.
Your luggage is another story.

* Accept misfortune as a blessing.
Do not wish for perfect health
or a life without problems.
What would you talk about?

* The journey of a thousand miles
begins with a single "oy."

* There is no escaping karma.
In a previous life, you never called,
you never wrote, you never visited.
And whose fault was that?

* Zen is not easy.
It takes effort to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have?
Bupkes.

* The Tao does not speak.
The Tao does not blame.
The Tao does not take sides.
The Tao has no expectations.
The Tao demands nothing of others.
The Tao is not Jewish.

* Breathe in. Breathe out.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Forget this and attaining Enlightenment
will be the least of your problems.

* Let your mind be as a floating cloud.
Let your stillness be as the wooded glen.
And sit up straight. You'll never meet the
Buddha with such rounded shoulders.

* Be patient and achieve all things.
Be impatient and achieve all things faster.

The Torah says, "Love thy neighbor as thyself."
The Buddha says there is no "self."
So, maybe you are off the hook.

Each flower blossoms ten thousand times.
Each blossom has ten thousand petals.
You might want to see a specialist.

* Be aware of your body.
Be aware of your perceptions.
Keep in mind that not every physical
sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.

* The Torah says, "Love thy neighbor as thyself."
The Buddha says there is no "self."
So, maybe you are off the hook.

* Though only your skin, sinews, and bones remain,
though your blood and flesh dry up and wither away,
yet shall you meditate and not stir
until you have attained full Enlightenment.
But, first, a little nosh

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and now, some surfing! Time to finally try and find the Eldest a gymnastics class. Yes, kids with hemophilia can do gymnastics. Yes, it's going to give me a bleeding ulcer. (hey, I'm relaxed, but not quite that relaxed.) And yes, the hematologists okayed the idea, and of course the Eldest is twitching to go!

But you better believe that he's getting a hefty dose of clotting factor the morning of classes...

4 comments:

mother in israel said...

Here I am! What do you want to know? I agree with the thing you linked to. I used Chinese prefolds and the most basic, good quality covers. Snaps fall off after a while (but some are guaranteed) and with velcro, you must be meticulous about closing them before they go in the wash.
You can always write to me via my blog profile, but leave a comment because I don't always check that email.

mother in israel said...

Okay, the comment seems to be there. My problem was probably just typing in the word verification wrong and abandoning the computer before I noticed.

dykewife said...

bran, is a somewhat taoist, somewhat buddhist, and all him. that meant that i had to read your omnibus list to him. he laughed heartily. i enjoyed them too. :)

ZM said...

dw, always delighted to make you laugh! Bran is an added bonus.

M.i.I, thanks! I'm waiting happily for the prefolds, and have discovered that a pair of hemp inserts work quite well in the gPants.

And onwards we go!