I was talking with a friend yesterday who said she enjoyed my last post and I had forgotten what all I had nattered on about, so I revisited it and noticed that I forgot, in a flurry of nattering, to mention who I was referring in the description of the Marine Corp Major General whom I considered to be an example of a true hero in the classical sense of that word. I was referring to Smedley Darlington Butler, USMC.  He was not a perfect human, like the rest of us, but from what I have read about him he did his best. Plus, a great name.

Also,  I mentioned the “Meal Verse” that I say before a meal and now that it’s Thanksgiving Day I’ll quote a portion of the verse said at the end of the meal in Soto Zen Buddhism, as offered in the booklet, Scriptures and Ceremonies ©  Berkeley Buddhist Priory, Albany, CA).

“The universe is as the boundless sky,

As lotus blossoms over unclear water;

Pure and beyond the world is

The Buddha Nature of the trainee;

O, Holy Buddha, we take refuge in Thee.”

I like that, because it addresses aspiration to a spiritual understanding which must go hand-in-hand with living daily life as it comes to us, in this very world.