The skin horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the
others. He was so old that his brown
coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs
in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long
succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break
their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and
would never turn into anything else. For
nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are
old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.
“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day,
when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to
tidy the room. “Does it mean having
things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?” “Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time,
not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.” “Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit. “Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was
always truthful. “When you are Real you
don’t mind being hurt.” “Does it happen
all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the
Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people
who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of
your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the
joints and very shabby. But these things
don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to
people who don’t understand.” from The
Velveteen Rabbit (or How Toys Become Real) by Marjorie Williams
You become. It takes a long time.
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Our ZHS on-line schedule:
- Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
- Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
- Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study
- For more information: www.zenheartsangha.org)
Special bows for today:
- Please offer bows for all those in residence at Gordon Manor suffering from COVID-19
- Please offer bows for Donald Kennedy, former president of Stanford University, who died from COVID-19
- Please continue to offer bows for Nick Battaglia, Camille Spar's father, who died Aprill 13th
- Please continue to offer bows for the family of Alison Templeton, a PS parent, who died on April 1st
- Please offer bows of well-being for dharma sister, Marya Shahinian, who will be having surgery on May 8th
- Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:
- Claudio Pannunzio, dharma friend of Twining Vines Zendo, who is undergoing chemotherapy
- Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home while undergoing chemotherapy
- Brendan, Kate Haimson’s son, who is recovering at home from surgery
- Michael Tieri Ricaud, Dainuri Rott’s brother, who is suffering from MS
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Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:
Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:
- Zen Heart Sangha website: resources about COVID-19: www.zenheartsangha.org
- From our dharma sister, Nancy: virtual nature programs: https://news.openspaceauthorit
y.org/en/virtual-programs-2020 - From our dharma sister, Camille: a modern fairy tale about the pandemic:
- From our dharma sister, Kathleen, on grieving: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/opinion/esther-perel-coronavirus.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
- From our dharma sister, Lucille, for a little humor on 'What You Should and Should Not Do: https://youtu.be/wVs5AyjzwRM
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Many thanks to those of you who are sending me articles to share, links to helpful information, and for making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will be happy to paste it in.
Many thanks to those of you who are sending me articles to share, links to helpful information, and for making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will be happy to paste it in.
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