If all that is Christian in me was formed by Narnia and Lewis, then all that is Zen was formed by the Moomintrolls of Tove Jansson. They are kind and generous to their neighbors. They find joy in everything they do and they live in the moment and can walk away from their possessions and dark emotions without hesitation. When they have dark emotions--anger, possessiveness, jealousy they quickly realize the error of their ways. Many creatures try to tell them they are foolish for living the way that they do, and sometimes they struggle with it (reading Thich Nhat Hanh's Anger to see that even monk's struggle with it was very helpful to me), but in the end they return to peace.
We don't wait for rain to clean our dishes, but we do lie in reading in the morning. What I must fully learn and own is to not worry about whether that is the right thing or the wrong thing. It simply is our thing.
I don't know if you can read this, but the Fillyjonk is berating Moominmama for her housekeeping--the fact they let a tree grow in their living room or that they keep the dishwashing for days when it rains, or that they pretend that explosions are happening when they dust and the garden is a jungle.
This is the Fillyjonk's home:
We don't wait for rain to clean our dishes, but we do lie in reading in the morning. What I must fully learn and own is to not worry about whether that is the right thing or the wrong thing. It simply is our thing.
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