Blogs from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, North America - page 3

The holwling of the wolves after dusk on a cold, Canadian night sends chills up and down my spine. The opening of the cloudless night sky twinkles its mystery causing me to gaze in wonder. I wonder what it would be like to gaze down on Earth from up above to down below- blue, green- Earth. And to gaze back up, mid-howl, as a grey wolf imagining the Great Wolf looking down on me, blessing me, blessing each howl, wind movement of breath and air and fire- Earth, what a blessed place it is consumed, enraptured walking, running, gazing, and gracing its earthy paradise, howling at the moon sister brother hear me now Night sky alive in each moment gathering starlight and sending it forth out into the Unknown, known to all Known to some, known ... read more

HI friends, I just wanted to share some of my musings with you. Well, I left my notebook at home. So I will have to muse fresh. Here goes: What shall i say? Lets talk about pain. How does one transmute pain; let it go? I guess you have to fully embrace it first, right? Don't deny it or block it away. That is easy to do if the pain is severe and won't go away! How to transcend it? First you recognize it, be with it, love it, and then see it as just that, pain: nothing more, nothing less. One friend said that this is just one part of you, if it is even you. It is a sensation just like pleasure and they are both impermanent. So letting go and not holding on ... read more

HI Friends, In town for the Book club. It has been windy today and last night. Whipping the snow around like sand and forming snow dunes. I feel pretty still. My cat misses me, Amanda tells me. She is a neighbor and friend who watches after him. Ajahn has a cat as well. HIs name is Shadow, and he is black. Esco has a dog. His name is Anook. It is a Brittany Spaniel and very hyperactive! He likes to junp all over me:) Shawn is still on his Silent retreat (49 days total). And I am still cooking, cleaning, filling up buckets of water, lighting fires, etc. I usually start the day getting up around 6:30 and finish between 1 and 2 pm. I will shop on Thursday when I have to bring Ajahn in ... read more

Hi Friends, I made it to the Hermitage in Canada. I started my first day of work today cooking on my own for the residents here: me, Ajahn, Esco, and Shawn. Shawn is a younger fellow around age 23, Esco is an older fellow of about 65, Ajahn is 60. All is well. I am enjopying my first day. I am here in the library for a book club study group. I drove myself and Ajahn into town. We will be reading The Tibertan Book of the Living and Dying. Today I woke up at around 6:50. Dressed in my not so cold cabin. It was probably around 5 degrees in the cabin (I let the fire go out! Fiftenn degrees warmer than the previous morning). I went to morning Puja (chanting and meditation) in the ... read more

After leaving Manitoba it was easy to tell we had entered Ontario as the highways improvement was very noticeable. Travelling through Kenora and to Dryden the landscape was interesting and well into the Canadian Shield the rock was pink and grey granite and in fact the highways are constructed of this and have a sparkle, pinkish tinge to them. The miles between Dryden and Thunder Bay become a little boring with endless swamp spruce but relieved with a lot of small lakes. Portage La Prairie to Thunder Bay was an 8 plus hour drive and we found a campground about 30k west of Thunder Bay. Yesterday we toured Fort William, Canada's number 1 Historic Site. The place was the rendevous for the voyageurs from the east and west and the main post of the NorthWest Fur ... read more