Today’s beautiful moment of bunniness comes to us from the good people at the House Rabbit Connection, who work tirelessly to help bunnies in Massachusetts and Connecticut find safe, healthy, and loving forever homes.
This is one very sleepy bun named Julian with a reminder that we must first learn to focus on peaceful thoughts, and then all of our moments both waking and sleeping will be peaceful and happy in turn.
May you sleep peacefully, Julian, and may your message of peace and happiness reach those who need it most.
Julian the bunny, Photo courtesy of the House Rabbit Connection
Thank you to Courtney W. and her beautiful bun, Luna, for today’s moment of bunniness. Be sure to check out Courtney on IG and YouTube for beauty, fashion, food, travel, and the occasional glimpse of Luna!
I love this bunny quote because I am very much at the beginning of my own journey into the unknown, and the look of quiet anticipation on Luna’s face inspires me to be calm as I try to approach my new path with curiosity and openness.
Thank you, Luna, for sharing your experience of bunniness for the benefit of all beings!
Today’s feature bun, Bruce, was a rescue bunny who had two homes before his foster home, and only after that did he find his forever home with Jennie R. Now, Jennie tells me Bruce is “a much loved happy house rabbit” and it sounds like they both continue to benefit from having found one another at just the right time in their lives.
Big bunny thanks to Jennie for the beautiful photo. Thanks also to Bruce for the reminder that life encompasses many things and that patience is crucial because bunniness can be found at any moment along the way.
Today’s moment of bunniness comes to us courtesy of Hazel E. and her adventurous bun, Dynah, who was a rescue from the good people at the MSPCA. Hazel tells me she made four trips to the shelter to adopt a kitten, but Dynah just kept popping up with a great big bunny hello every time Hazel walked by.
Well, Hazel and Dynah, I think your story is a perfect example of how we can hop into one another’s lives in the most unexpected ways. I am so glad you found each other and are sharing many moments of joy and bunniness together!
For those of you in the Boston area, I am very pleased to announce an upcoming Bunny Buddhism event to be held at Barnes & Noble @ Boston University this Thursday, October 2, 2014 at 6:00pm.
Barnes & Noble @ Boston University
660 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02215-2066
Please join me at my alma mater for an evening of bunny wisdom!
With special thanks to Cindy F. for another perfect bunny pic, here is lovable Gus experiencing a moment of bunniness with a quote that is near and dear to my heart, especially during this chaotic time in my life. Thank you, Gus, for the reminder that we all have a perfectly calm inner bunny, even when it feels like the world is falling apart around us. All we need to do is keep trying to find it!
With special thanks to Del C. for the perfect photo to match how I’m feeling lately, here is a moment of bunniness featuring Apples the English Angora bun.
Apples the bunny, Photo courtesy of Del C.
Please note: If you do not wish to read anything that may trigger negative emotions, please stop reading now.
From time to time, despite our beliefs and all the structures we have put in place to help us find our strength, life presents us with a challenge that tests us to our limits and even beyond them.
While the photo of Apples speaks to me, the truth is that the message is quite a bit more difficult. As you may have guessed from my previous post, I have been dealing with some big personal stuff. For a few weeks, I have been hiding in my metaphorical basket, trying to find the courage to emerge and face the world.
Sometimes the reserves of bunniness are low, and one must take care to recharge before trying to give more.
A few weeks ago, my husband and I took a lovely week-long vacation to Maine. Two days after our return, my husband texted me to say he was coming home from work. When he still wasn’t home two hours later, I started to panic. My sister and I called every authority we could imagine. Four hours after his text, the police called to tell me my husband was in an ambulance on his way to a nearby hospital.
He had intentionally taken a massive overdose of his prescription medications for depression and anxiety. He was unconscious when they found him, and despite the best efforts of doctors at a world-class hospital, he never regained consciousness. He lost all brain function and his organs began to fail one by one. I sat with him in the ICU for four days, and I was holding his hand when his heart stopped.
He was 33 years old. We were together for 14 of those years. Now, I am left to pick up the pieces of the life we built together. Somehow, I am supposed to move on.
I try to remind myself of all the teachings on attachment and letting go, but I am at a loss for what I am going to do without him. When I meditate, my breathing gets lost behind all the tears. Attempts at mindfulness turn immediately to memories of the best and the worst moments of our lives together.
I miss him so much. I loved him more than he knew. I want nothing more than to hold him just one more time. But I can’t. I am having more than a little trouble finding the bunniness within the pain right now. But I know that is what I have to do, and I will continue to try.
The more we try to hop away from pain, the more it clings to us. One must learn to find the bunniness within the pain.
For those of you who may be wondering why Bunny Buddhism has been less active lately, I just wanted to let you know I’m dealing with a family crisis and need to focus my time and energy on that right now. I plan to respond to all bunny photo submissions and be back to full speed as soon as possible. Thanks in advance for your patience and understanding.
This sneaky moment of bunniness comes to us from Karen N. and her bun, Nibbler. Karen took this photo of Nibbler when she caught him listening to her while she was working from home. Here’s a quote about listening to help us all remember that every bunny has a message to share, if only we take the time to listen!
When I first tried meditation, it was relatively easy to continue practicing on a daily basis because of the sheer novelty. I had boundless curiosity about my own mind and how the thoughts spasmodically jumped around from one topic to the next.
It was bizarre…and endlessly fascinating.
I will never forget the first time I heard the phone ring while I was meditating. The urge to answer the phone was so intense I had to make an enormous effort to refrain from jumping up and answering it. The sensations in that moment were nearly overpowering, but I learned to stay put and subsequent phone calls were easier and easier to resist.
For quite some time—years even—meditation was the only thing I wanted to do. Even though I knew I had become attached to the practice, I craved my alone time. When I got it, I marveled at how difficult some thoughts were to accept and let go and how easy others were.
It almost turned into a form of entertainment.
Over time, the thoughts became less frantic and intense. I learned to accept and let go of little triggers and even some big ones. I no longer felt imprisoned by my own mind. I had tasted freedom from intense emotions. And, despite an awareness that I was clinging, I kept meditating because I wanted to see just how much more I could learn.
Five years later, my experience of meditation is much, much different.
When I sit to meditate these days, I set my timer, focus on my breathing and notice very little. Thoughts still come and go, but they are comparatively mundane—tiny fragments of memories or anticipations that don’t carry much weight.
I face what seems to be a gaping pit of mental dullness.
I know this development is common. Dullness is one of the five hindrances in Buddhism, and there are various methods suggested as an antidote to the dullness. I am working on having greater alertness and awareness during my meditation.
But sometimes I believe it is necessary simply to notice the dullness.
Breathing in, I notice my bunny mind feels dull. Breathing out, I am aware that my bunny mind feels dull.
For quite some time—years even—meditation was the only thing I wanted to do. Even though I knew I had become attached to the practice, I craved my alone time. When I got it, I marveled at how difficult some thoughts were to accept and let go and how easy others were.