October Newsbyte

Life is tough. For most of us, the body is on its downward slope towards frailty, old age and eventual death.  We miss the bus. Our best friend gets a terminal illness.  There's a stone in our shoe.

We live with the reality of the first noble truth. Its inescapable.  All the more reason to sensitise ourselves to momentary joys, take time to appreciate them, let them lift our spirits.

I spent a few days in Dublin last week and came back to Satipanya on Thursday evening. I had to change trains at Chester and I found my way to Platform 4 for the train to Shrewsbury. This was at about 8pm. There was about a 30 min wait so I wandered up and down the platform for a while and then sat down on a bench.

Perhaps I closed my eyes for a bit, the next thing I remember was the train pulling in and people getting off. I hurriedly got myself onto the train and set about finding somewhere to stow my suitcase. The train was pulling out again when I heard the announcement welcoming me on board the train to Holyhead!

I couldn’t believe my ears and checked with another passenger – sure enough I’d got on the wrong train, was travelling back the way I’d just come! I felt shocked and angry and the strong temptation towards blame. Noticing this I was able to persuade myself that there was no real problem, that there would be no harm in being late back.

There was a moments joy in recognising that I was meeting the situation wisely. With that the train seemed brighter, more colourful, the people more friendly, the situation easy to manage. The uplift strengthened my determination to make this mishap part of my path to liberation.

Although thoughts of bewilderment and blame kept resurfacing - how did it happen …  why didn’t I double check  – these were met with good humour that felt gently consoling.  Waiting on the platform in Shotton I messaged some of my Irish friends to tell them of my mistake – trusting that sharing the burden would lighten my load. Sure enough, just the thought of those friends lifted my spirits, renewed my energy for the journey.

By 10pm I was back where I'd started, on Platform 4 at Chester, with another half-hour to wait for the Shrewsbury train. Equanimity was still prevailing but tiredness was starting to test it.  This time the train was on the platform, lights on, engine revving, but doors firmly closed so we passengers had to wait on the cold platform.

The tired body gave an anchor for attention, a stream of unpleasant sensations at the back of my neck which could easily have triggered dark thoughts was instead being pulled downwards into a heavy sensation lodged in my chest and pressing painfully on my hips and knees which were feeling every day of their 71 years. The occasional blip from the phone as another friend responded to my tale of woe gave a minute of welcome relief.

Momentary joys keep us on the path, prevent us falling into pits of misery and self-pity which the first noble truth readily triggers.  When the first wave of anger arose on realising my mistake, the joy of realising I was meeting the situation wisely was a great starting point. That kept me going for the hour or two of detour. The joy elicited by each friend’s response topped me up when my spirits were starting to sink.  Although joy is fleeting, recognising it brings deep within, lets it sustain us through the inevitable disappointments of a world that is not designed to satisfy our needs. It kindles hope in the Buddha’s assurance of their being a path to the end of suffering.