[This is a “back-post”; it is a work-in-progress, so it may change partially or completely, with materials added or taken away, over the next several days or weeks. This is “day 7(a)” of my stay at the Vipassana Meditation retreat. For general comments and summary, see “day 11.”]
I really saw this. There is a pond fed by an artesian spring at the retreat center. There appear to be two muskrats living in it. During the day, sometimes migrating geese stop and feed and rest -the water is unfrozen because of the flow into it from the spring, so it must make a pretty good oasis during the cold days of winter. I can’t figure out if the muskrats are guided by territoriality, hunger, or a sense of play, but one of them or the other will literally sneak up on a floating goose and begin to chase it through the water, until the goose becomes so rattled that it takes off and flies to the bank of the pond for a short time. I saw both muskrats doing this, over and over, and it made me laugh out loud. A violation of the code of silence. …
The world is funny and interesting, even if these neo-orthodox buddhists take themselves too seriously. Misery? What misery?
