A while back I read some articles on the Four Reminders and they made a lot of sense to me. They are the a way to think about ourselves and our place in the universe. A way to make some sense of it all and a way to keep the Dharma in mind.

1. This chance is precious.
2. We will all die.
3. Samsara - suffering is everywhere.
4. Karma is the law of the universe.

This is very foreign to many of us in the west, but also has a resonance about it. It just sounds familiar and right. I have nothing deep to depart with you today, just this small message that the 4 Reminders has for us. If you wish to learn more about the 4 Reminders, and I hope you do, please visit this link to read meditations written by Ven. Lama Norlha Rinpoche.

On a side note I found a small list of parenting and children’s books on the subject of the Buddha, the Dharma and other Buddhist related topics, I added a few more and so now I want to share this with you.

Books about parenting with Compassion:

• Dharma Family Treasures: Sharing Buddhism With Children, by Sandy Eastoak (Editor) (North Atlantic Books, 1997).
• Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting, by Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn (Hyperion, 1998).
• The Family Meditation Book, by Kerry Lee Maclean (On the Spot! Books, 2004)
• Buddhism for Mothers: A Calm Approach to Caring for Yourself and Your Children, by Sarah Napthali (Allen & Unwin, 2003)
• Buddha Mom: The Journey Through Mindful Mothering, by Jacqueline Kramer (Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2003)
• Zen Parenting: The Art of Learning What You Already Know, by Judith Costello (Robins Lane Press, 2004)
• Baby Buddhas: A Guide for Teaching Meditation to Children, by Lisa Desmond (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2004)
• Teaching Meditation to Children: A Practical Guide to the Use and Benefits of Meditation Techniques, by David Fontana and Ingrid Slack (Element Books, 1998)
• Karma Kids: Answering Everyday Parenting Questions With Buddhist Wisdom, by Greg Holden (Ulysses Press, 2004)
• The Way of Youth: Buddhist Common Sense for Handling Life’s Questions, by Daisaku Ikeda (Middleway Press, 2000)
• Your Children Will Raise You: The Joys, Challenges, and Life Lessons of Motherhood, edited by Eden Steinberg (Shambhala, 2005)

Children’s Books for many ages:

• Blue Jean Buddha: Voices of Young Buddhists, by Sumi D. Loundon and Jack Kornfield (Wisdom, 2001).
• Buddha’s Apprentices, More Voices of Young Buddhists, by Sumi Loundon and Sharon Salzberg (Wisdom, 2006).
• Kindness: A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom for Children and Parents, by Sarah Conover and Valerie Wahl (Eastern Washington University Press, 2001).
• The Hungry Tigress: Buddhist Myths, Legends, and Jataka Tales, by Rafe Martin (Yellow Moon Press, 1999).
• The Wisdom of the Crows and Other Buddhist Tales, by Sherab Chodzin, Alexandra Kohn, Marie Cameron (Tricycle Press, 1998).
• The Rabbit Who Overcame Fear, by Eric Meller (Dharma Publishing, 1991).
• I Once Was a Monkey: Stories Buddha Told, by Jeanne M. Lee (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1999).
• Tibetan Tales for Little Buddhas, by Naomi C. Rose and Pasang Tenzin (Clear Light Publishing, 2004)
• Taking Our Places: The Buddhist Path to Truly Growing Up, by Norman Fischer (Harper SanFrancisco, 2004)
• Buddha in Your Backpack, by Franz Metcalf (Ulysses Press, 2002)

So there you go, more reading.

In Dharma,

Matt

For the last two nights I have had interesting dreams.

Two nights ago:

I was on the rocky beach of a fast moving, dark water river. The water was that lush, deep green that you see in the old rivers, the ones that run for a thousand miles before they collide with the ocean. In the middle of the river the current is moving fast while the shore is more docile. People are wading out in to the water to wash their clothes, their pots and pans. The river is too cold to swim in unless you are bathing, and there are a few old men doing that too.The beach is hard to walk over with so many rocks. They are various colors of earth tones. Reds, browns, tans and grays are everywhere. The beach itself is small though, less than one hundred yards up and down the river and you are in deep jungle again.

On the shore, twenty or thirty feet up from the water I am making a raft with a little old monk in saffron robes. I don’t know his name, in the dream or in real life either. I will call him Lama-la because I know that is what I would call him if we were to meet one day.

The raft is strange looking. Long and narrow, it is made of ten or more bamboo poles lashed together to form a mast of sorts with a sail secured every so many feet with smaller bamboo pieces. This is hard to explain. Picture the left side with 20 bamboo poles tied together and then blue fabric secured to some of them. That blue fabric is only about 2 feet wide but it goes the length of the poles. On the outside of the fabric we have secured one more bamboo pole. In the dream this made complete sense, but as soon as I woke I wondered how this would hold us on the water.

We work on the raft for hours, cutting and securing the bamboo over and over again until Lama-la says it is good. Once Lama-la says we are finished we walk towards a small outdoor restaurant where people are sitting on the ground or on fallen trees eating the food they have. The fire smells wonderful to me and for the first time I notice how good the river smells, how the bamboo and the mountains smell. My nose is filled with the smell of grasses, earth, burning wood and water all at once; it is a cacophony and I love it. For one instant, there on the way to the front of the line I am alone in the universe; I am everything and everyone and everywhere.

Lama-la pushes me and I look up from my reverie, my vision. I point to the soup, which the little old woman sloshes into a tin cup. She passes me the soup and a slab of flat bread. The bread has blackened burn marks on it. It smells so wonderful.

After we eat Lama-la announces that we are ready.

Back at the raft we kneel, say our prayers and then we lift it together. He is carrying a strange wooden anchor that too my eyes looks like a wooden yoke, the kind you would see on oxen as they tilled the land or pulled a wagon. I start to ask him what it is, where it came from, but he just smiles and walks past me in to the water with his load.

As we set off on the river there is a thunderous applause from the beach. Our friends are excited to see us off. I wave and smile, but then the current swiftly takes us out of sight from the beach.

As we approach our first bend in the river I realize the mistake in the design. The raft is too long as well as too narrow. The turn will do something nasty to this little vessel, Lama-la will be headed one direction with me in the tail another. Before I can raise the alarm it is all too late. The river takes Lama-la hard to the starboard, this sends me careening to the port and I can see the beach coming closer by the second. Just as I come to the beach I am lifted in to the air and I sail over a small green bamboo stand to land back in the water gently.

I look to Lama-la but I only see the back of his stubble-covered head. Had he known, did he realize and lift me somehow? Maybe I should trust him?

The rest of the days journey is full of fast current and warm sun. Then, just before nightfall, we move through a cavern where the walls are smooth and the passage is easy. The water is calm and somehow warm here as I let me left hand dangle in the liquid. As we come out the other side I could see a beach on the far side of the river.

There is a group of people there and they are waiting for us. Cheers erupt and they wave us to them. As our tiny raft comes to a halt along the sandy beach they are patting our backs and hugging us both. Many people some up and offer hand shakes, kisses to our cheeks, more hugs and smiles.

I am not sure, but I think we were home.

Last night:

I was checking in to an opulent hotel suite. The staff was preparing the room all around me and I was busy taking it all in. The room was massive. It had deep, richly stained woods on the walls and a thick lush red carpet. The concierge was very concerned that the room was to my liking and the only thing I could do was smile and tell him that it would have to do. Even there, in my dream I knew that I did not belong here.Later in my dream I am standing at the front desk in the foyer of the hotel and I am asking which room I am checked into. I can not remember and they can not tell me. They woman behind the counter knows I belong there, but like me, she can not recall which room I should be in.

I woke there this morning. Strange.