{"id":19,"date":"2011-10-17T18:04:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-17T18:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/10\/what-to-do-when-youre-in-a-fight-with-your-partner\/"},"modified":"2013-05-24T08:06:25","modified_gmt":"2013-05-24T14:06:25","slug":"what-to-do-when-youre-in-a-fight-with-your-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/10\/what-to-do-when-youre-in-a-fight-with-your-partner.html","title":{"rendered":"What To Do When You’re In a Fight With Your Partner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

My dear dog Bodhi and I are back in the several hundred acres of open space near our house. During the summer the swamp rose blocking a key passage but now the water has receded and the ticks have likewise done their seasonal tick thing so are no longer a danger for Bodhi.<\/p>\n

Taking this shot of the afternoon sun illuminating the afternoon reeds, reminded me of a passage from the rather Verse of the \u201cUniversal Gateway\u201d<\/em><\/span> (Fumonbon ge) <\/em>that we chant every morning in sesshin (and is a standard part of the liturgy in Japanese Soto temples):<\/span><\/p>\n

If from Mount Sumeru\u2019s lofty peak,
\nSomeone were to throw you down,
\nBy mindfully invoking Avalokiteshvara\u2019s power
\nLike the sun you would stand firm in the sky.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s from the Lotus Sutra, <\/em>written at least a couple thousand years ago so of course it uses circumstances from the period for examples of horrid situations that we humans might find ourselves in \u2013 like menaced by dragons, fish, or demons, vicious bandits or wicked people.<\/p>\n

Substitute government collusion with the rich, your spouse\u2019s lawyer during divorce proceedings, the bill for car repair, etc., and we might have a more modern version.<\/p>\n

The important thing, though, is the repeated promise that whatever the situation, if we mindfully invoke Avalokiteshvara\u2019s (the bodhisattva of compassion who regards the cries of the world) power, we will be saved.<\/p>\n

This can be understood from a magical perspective, of course, which I don\u2019t find very interesting or important for our times.<\/p>\n

What is interesting is mindfulness and power.\u00a0The suggestion here\u00a0 is to practice mindfulness as in the Buddha\u2019s refrain from the Satipatthana Sutta, <\/em>the mindfulness of the body in the body, the feeling in the feeling, the heart in the state of heart, the dharma<\/a> in the dharma \u2013 no separation.<\/p>\n

In a fight with your partner, the sutra encourages us to be in the fight, to trust that the call for<\/em> compassion is the call of<\/em> compassion.<\/p>\n

If this seems foreign, try it sometime and see if you feel it\u2019s power.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My dear dog Bodhi and I are back in the several hundred acres of open space near our house. During the summer the swamp rose blocking a key passage but now the water has receded and the ticks have likewise done their seasonal tick thing so are no longer a danger for Bodhi. Taking this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat To Do When You're In a Fight With Your Partner<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My dear dog Bodhi and I are back in the several hundred acres of open space near our house. 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