Winters of My Life

[Mr. G]

Winters of My Life is a portrait of Howard Weamer. For the past 35 years he has spent his winters as a hutkeeper in Yosemite's backcountry. He fills his days writing, reading, photographing, and being an ambassador to mountain culture. This is a brief look into his world and why he chooses to stay.

[BFS]

Thanks for that, Mr.G.

[ronnewmexico]

Close as we get in america I'd guess...

wonder what he would come up with without the distraction of reading writing and ambassdorship.

I means....its only winter, how hard could it be?
Living in a cardboard box by the freeway on ramp....could it be so different?
A retreatant life long american somewhere..but then you see this fellow responding to things on the internet occasionally....ya gotta wonder?

Kerouacs rungsack revolution a virtual army of dharmic adherants traveling the land....how about a army of retreatants....how about that?
ya gotta wonder?

[Mr. G]

Thanks for that, Mr.G.

Yes, I'd love to spend my winters where he is, looks amazing....bah, the anchor of a job.

[ronnewmexico]

karmic responsibilities of a householder are significant and can't be disallowed to my view without negative consequence..

but most commonly what they take to be those responsibilities are not but self desires interwoven.
Reminds me of a poster selling a brokerage firms things...a poster with a young female vulnerable child..something to the effect of....you owe it to her to provide a safe economic environment.

But is that person providing that. Would that child not have the half hour spent with the parent as opposed to with the broker with the parent?
Someone I knew once working finished with a steady retired income...young going to work again I asked him why, you have all you could reasonably need....he stated well I have all but my children...I must provide for them their future.
Well...there seems no end to that sort of thing....children then grandchildren then others and on and on. He I learned recently developed a heart condition and now has to leave his second profession.

So I can't of course judge others situations but my experience is most live not simply and cannot do things they love as they don't really live simply, that being the constraing factor...as Ram Dass seemed to state...he deserved that hottub.

So is work really necessary? Perhaps it is I don't know but thought I'd pose it.
Nothing stands in the way of things I love personally. But heating with coal, driving very old vehicles and useing mostly gifts for clothing am i, but my children seems quite ok.
Could all crunch I'd guess at any moment but ten years now it has not. So maybe but maybe not.
And if it did the worst that could happen is I am working.....which would be what I would be doing anyway. Work till you drop is the motto I'd guess. Greece with all their problem raised their retirement age from 50 to 55 I think. The US is now bandying about raising it to 70. But most all I'd guess say....what would I do? One month off mandatory minimum in most western european states..these americans don't know how to act never having not worked except when in dire need of job. Very small vacations most with two jobs.

Don't know don't have a clue but thought I'd throw that out there. If not applicable here perhaps for others....its truly amazing on how little money you need to really live a life of complete wealth in the west compared to any in the third world.

To add...my experience of notworking had of course to be worked at or cause provided for its presence. So all that was needed was to provide the cirucumstance of creation, when thusly created.... I just had to live it, and take advantage of the circumstance I had provided myself. Most I'd think could easily cause it. If they really wanted to...most do not. Work is all they know with brief interludes to distract from work so they may not look at what they are really truly doing with their time, to my opinion. Which is working...might as well be ants to my view, working all the time with little tiny distracton of vacation tv and such.

[Mr. G]

For me, work is necessary....for others it is not. Everyone tries to practice the Dharma within their own capacity.

[ronnewmexico]

Certainly, what is necessary must necessarily be done.

My own capacities are very small, meager, so I must provide fortuitous circumstances of most beneficial nature to develope any slightest bit of understanding. Others may not be like that.

To whit to provide beneficial effect upon meditational practice I found it necessary when not working for money, to perform five years of volunteer work. When that is exhausted I may have to again. Reference may be found in Buddhist literature of the most obscure sort in the school I have studied, and stolen from, that equates such works with devotion prayer and guru practice,
To work for money, and me expect to develope anything..... would be quite unlikely.
Others are undoubtably quite superior in that fashion. Some seem to do nothing at all and attain understandings. I may not....so I provide circumstance which leads me in that direction.

So neither is better nor worse both are circumstantial.

[Mr. G]

That's actually very cool ron...I wish I had the mental fortitude to do that. I'm reminded of the Peace Pilgrim who walked back and forth the U.S. while giving speeches...she never had money or food with her, and both were always provided when she needed it. Such faith in her practice and outlook!

[BFS]

Thanks for that, Mr.G.

Yes, I'd love to spend my winters where he is, looks amazing....bah, the anchor of a job.

My feeling, exactly. ... AH! ....

[ronnewmexico]

Thanks G, but no fortuitudeness about it.....I totally lack such things and spellings.
STrict matter of cause and effect, I want spiritual advancement I must provide the circumstance of spiritual advancement to occur(though my advancement evidenced by my compassion is most minimal advancement it remains for me)....I'm certain many do that, some/many perhaps however quite unconsciously. The theists frame it by stateding..... in this life I am here to learn this thing.

You work at social issues, with people on interactive things, I assume so that is exactly equal. So you don't need that pragmatic approach as it comes naturally to you. I must work at it with conscious effort and direction.

As a aside as a kid I lived that hand to mouth thing always having more coming in than going out....perhaps I just didn't have at it, long enough, but that was always my experience, and I was not doing anything particularly beneficial. And I did it only for a year or two total time. That reminded me of that. My first formal introduction to buddhism by a reformed meth addict, with a jail story, who took me to his temple. Quite extraordinary, though I didn't know what to make of it. San Diego round about it was...pure land, chant this thing, small temple, modest center,Buddhist master....many debts unpaid.
Round about that way it was.

REminds me..Florida before the land rush...deserted freeway, more like two lane, empty roads, no cars trucks nor vehicle, alligators in the weeds, flat, no person, no building, no food, no water, night setting, cool breeze, no nothing really(forget how I got in that place) ...rationally you should be scared out of your mind.

Picked up by a crazy mad drunk weaving down the road. Reminds me of that sort of thing.
That crazy mad drunk weaving down the road.

The edge, not a fine or hardly woven edge but a pliant soft one of much fluidity when on such thing one does find. That is my personal experience. Though one shot by sniper in somalia may quite disagree...all seeminly hardness and sharpness so devised. I predepose to the fluid, by circumstance created, and fail to find the snipers kill nor the wanderers ride either exclusive, but can not state decisively.

All in the end being quite personal and of the person, that being my personal opinion. That opinion I suspect not variable by circumstance.