Sushi, Sukhavati, and Sudden Showers

Last night I was craving some sushi. It is one of my normal food groups that I have when I am home alone. It comes in single serving size, it is not too filling, and it is very portable. Plus it tastes really good. It's not that my husband doesn't enjoy sushi as well, but I do seem to eat more of it alone than with him. Maybe some people have microwave dinners when they are single, I eat sushi. I live within walking distance to a good Japanese restaurant that has take out, so as my craving sat in, I made my way to my little shop ordered my sushi and spring rolls and walked home.
I also watch programs that interest me, but don't necessarily interest my husband. At first it was a series of different British crime thrillers (Waking the Dead, Wire in the Blood, MI-5, etc..), but I have managed to get Larry addicted to those as well. A couple of days ago I received Sukhavati which I had been waiting for months from Netflix. Sukhavati is basically an hour long seminar given by Joseph Campbell. I became interested in Campbell many years ago after catching The Power of Myth on PBS. His vast amount of knowledge on comparative myths and religion is astounding. Sukhavati discusses iconic imagery within the myths of the human and spiritual experience. When he talks he goes so fast and discusses so much information that smoke starts coming out of my ears.

As I was watching this program, I realized that I may have misspoke a few posts back regarding my theories on religion. I actually do find religion to be very fascinating. I do believe that religion offers a sense of purpose and connection to something much greater than ourselves. What I said about it, as an institution, how it can often times do many wrongs is not because of the religion, philosophy, theology itself, but of how Man can often times fall to the power/control that can be interpreted out of the religion. It is therefore man's abuses of religion that can cause pain and death and sorrow, not necessarily the religion itself. But then again, I guess that is the experience of life. Anyway, I think I am still trying to wrap my mind around all of it. I think I really love learning, being wrong, and then learning again. The Zohar has also sparked my interest as of late. That throws my brain in a completely different direction. It is all very fascinating. I think Campbell said it best (to paraphrase):

"We often feel like we are falling out of control, but it is when we see that act of
falling as a voluntary action, we change the way see the world and our place within it."

As I was watching the program and eating my sushi the outdoors began to light up with bright, white lightening. The sky rumbled and crackled, then surprisingly it began to rain.....again. Two nights in a row! I stepped outside and sat in my rocking chair and watched the light as it blinded me. Better yet, it rained well into the night. I went to bed around midnight and I could still hear the drops hitting my window.

Outside of Larry being gone, it was a perfect evening for me.

*I don't know what is up with the script here, but I can't fix it.*