Our forest neighbours, the termites, for years have been great teachers of patience, impermanence and futility of our actions. For first years, I did the same chore of stopping and fighting them but with anger and frustration, as they assaulted our meagre possesions, our fragile forest fort, literally eating away the humble investment. Then slowly I understood, the solution is not to hope that one day the chore will be done and I will be resting in safety, the solution is to keep doing the work and at the same pay attention to my mind, my thoughts, my feelings. Not only does that result in wellbeing, but also makes the work more effective. So to make Sisyphus happy, or in the words of Thinley Norbu Rinpoche :
“Suffering in hopefulness is the eternalist.
Suffering in hopelessness is the nihilist.
Beyond both hopefulness and hopelessness is the Buddhist.”
So now I know and can advise, when our guests ask, how to stop intrusive, “negative” thoughts, whether in their life, or amplified, in the ceremony.
Its not that different from trying to stop the termites. You can do your part, by keeping mental hygiene, by weeding your inner yard, by wholesome actions and clear intention where you want your attention to go. But those thoughts, those termites will be there, doing their thing.
Be sure, it is hard to be Buddhist in the forest, I still kill those who invade our wooden space, but almost always now, do it without hate and frustration.
“We think that the point is to pass the test
or overcome the problem,
but the truth is that
things don’t really get solved.
They come together and they fall apart.
Then they come together again
and fall apart again.
It’s just like that.
The healing comes from
letting there be room
for all of this to happen:
room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.”
Pema Chödrön
