On Saturday John, Annie and I visited the Kensington neighbourhood and its Art Supply store with its weekend sale. None of us bought anything, but it was busy and many others did. We went on to Oolong Teahouse for a drink and cookie, after which Annie cashes in part of my gift card to her, after some fancy arithmetic, for Pony paraphernalia!

On the way back I picked up a black cartridge for my Epson printer, which refused to do head cleaning after I had installed the mentioned cartridge. I still have a few unused cartridges left, so it annoys me that it quit just now. But it does not surprise me, since I bought this Stylus 320 back in 2004, when it was just out.
Now I’m searching for a replacement printer, but a five colour model may be too expensive. However I do need one quickly in order to print the handouts for my talk this coming Sunday.

Saturday night Michelle and I went all the way North on Sarcee Trail for our Mongolian dinner. It was ok, but lacked the ethnic atmosphere of the previous two venues. However, we had a good time, enjoying our always lively conversations.

Michelle, who has visited China, did not think this food was all that Mongolian, though it tasted fine. My feeling is that we are talking about Inner Mongolia for our venue, which is a part of China and not Outer Mongolia which is independent.

Last night I coloured the second last perimeter section of my mandala, with now the transition section, Fall to Summer left. Then come the four flower rosettes, about which I’ll have yet to make a colour choice decision. It starts to look like I may finish my Mandala1973 project forty years after I started it during our first Christmas in Calgary!

I want to spend some time and effort on outlining my talk ‘My Belief as Practice’. I have a number of ideas and some research results, but now I need to put it all together. This means combining the topical write up, formulated in late August and now printed, with content and ideas which have emerged since then.

The theme is still slowly emerging, it is that we need to learn to adept with conscious effort to newly identified requirements, while maintaining a continuity with the past.
As we do this we need to consider that there are always conservative elements within social groups, just as there are the progressive elements. I often make the analogy with the white and the red blood cells in our own bodies. The whites diminish the unwanted, while the reds distribute the nutrients.

No change is a dead end, while too much change makes for confusion and instability.

The moral here is that efficient change happens when we adapt with consideration to both trends and that if we do not, inner conflicts will result. No change is a dead end, while too much change makes for confusion and instability. Therefore, when we are looking at the practice of a belief we need to keep in mind the need for this idea of change with continuity.

To make a start with this, I suggest that we first examine the changes we have come through since our own upbringing. That is, how would I answer the following question. “What traditions and values have I let go, to which ones do I still adhere and what new ones have I adopted, at this time in my life?”

The value of making this examination lies in its giving time and place to the way and to what degree we adapt. [Examples here about swim dress codes, smoking, gambling and more.] This examination process makes us aware that changes do take place and provides an opportunity to find out why such changes were made. The latter is important if we want to understand how we need to make change and to what, in our own world today.

This leads to the next point, such as: ‘What is this world of ours like today and what changes appear as crucial?’ Do we just feel threatened and want to resist change as hostile, or do we recognise that structures from the past need to be modified to meet new demands?

We all live in the same neighbourhood

For example, many nations react defensively towards most immigrants, whereas our planet’s poor have become neighbours in our globalised world. That is, we could say: ‘We all live in the same neighbourhood’.

How do we practice and adapt our belief system in order to meet this new situation? My answer is to look at our traditional values that have guided us until today and examine what changes are needed and how these should be implemented.

This will be as painful as it is necessary, but will also be rewarding and liberating. This need for continued examination and change is part of ‘my belief as practice’, this means that belief is not just about making me comfortable, but my planetary neighbour as well!
‘My Belief as Practice’ then is one in which conservation and change are held in conscious balance, as our human society evolves with time and identify what this means today.
<8:41am and 9:26am after editing.~