Peace comes from within.

The Buddha said:

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

So with those sentiments, life comes back on track! I am pretty chipper again. I spent the day assembling my comp list for my field exam, getting through my last set of readings before Spring Break, making plans with friends, and generally pulling myself out of those dumps. I am doing my work without intrusion by the doldrums, though I’m still not enjoying home work, exactly (for that would be sheer insanity), but at least I am back to normal productivity.

Heck, over the weekend I even managed to work my way into a possible contribution to a book by stumbling onto an email address and acting adventurous. I will be writing this over break, but I don’t want to jinx it by getting too hyped up over it. For now, though, I’ll just enjoy doing the work on an absorbing topic that is right up my alley.

Have also picked up pursuits of a cheerful nature again. For example, I am in full blown love with these Open Letters, recommended by Catherine. (The fake boobs, the ant platoon leader, the invading squirrel! A whole world of hilarity.) I celebrated Valentine’s Day in my traditional manner, and read Pride and Prejudice again (after about the twentieth time, it really is possible to read that whole book in one sitting- though how much is actual reading and how much is memorization is unclear).

I have even come back around to thinking the snow is actually very pretty. Not so much that I want it to stay, necessarily, but at least it no longer represents pure evil to me. That’s an improvement, I think.

Further, Mitra the Monk helped me tremendously this week. That sweet man, knowing I did not have a copy of Peter Berger’s The Sacred Canopy (which is on our comps list), gave me an extra copy he found, simply because he thought of me. Wow… You know, I think there really is something to this Buddhism stuff, and if I weren’t such a self-centered jerk from birth, I would probably look into it further.

For now, though, it is enough for me to know that there are those mythical creatures known as Buddhists out there, and that they are gorgeous souls.

There seemed to be a slight hitch as I appeared to be a little sick to my stomach (yes, AGAIN!), and was knocked over by nausea at inopportune moments all evening. But, I refuse; I opt out of this whole system. I am NOT controlled by my bodily shell. Instead, I am pure energy… A free spirit, if you will.

And free spirits don’t puke up their submarine-sandwiches.

So I am determined that all shall be right for a while...

For, as the Buddha said:

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.

Nothing inside is seriously upset- in mind or body… And it’s going to stay that way, thank you very much.


***

The Buddha also said:

Ennui has made more gamblers than avarice, more drunkards than thirst, and perhaps as many suicides as despair.

This I believe.

Word to your Buddha, Mitra. He said a lot of pretty great things.