What does that word mean?  It seems clear … “an individual human being”.  How could a right-minded individual argue with that?

But in 1928 supposedly intelligent leaders of Canadian society did that:

The British North America Act of 1867 said that “qualified persons” could be appointed to the Senate.  The Government of Canada – and the Supreme Court of Canada –  interpreted the word “persons” to mean men only.

Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Henrietta Edwards, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby challenged the decision.

They submitted a question to the Supreme Court of Canada: “Does the word ‘persons’ in Section 24 of the British North America Act include female persons?”

In April 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unanimously: No.

Women were not persons under the BNA Act.  They could not be appointed to the Senate.

It took time, but women’s rightful access to personhood was finally established.

Emily, Nellie, Henrietta, Louise and Irene became known as The Famous Five.  Sculptures of them stand in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, along with an empty chair … reserved for each and every one of us.

***

The mind boggles

1928 to almost 2028

And what of 2028 to 2128?

Bring on the future

This is André Rieu, a Dutch violinist and orchestra conductor, known for his lavish concerts featuring marvelous soloists – singers and players.

André shines.  And he’s had his share of both tough times and standing ovations.

I think of the words of Myokei Caine-Barrett, Shonin, a Buddhist master:

A sword is not made by being praised.  A sword is made by being hammered, heated, and plunged into cold water and hammered again.  The purpose of the hammering is not to destroy the metal.  It is to make the metal into a sword.  The purpose of a vow is to make us into a bodhisattva, and the bodhisattva is not one who has escaped suffering but someone who has learned to use suffering as nature.

André’s sword is his violin, and his smile, and his orchestration of inspiring concerts.  All have been accompanied by moments of ill health – a despair that touches us all.

You may ask about the meaning of bodhisattva … 

“It is the Sanskrit word for a being who is devoted to awakening and to acting for the benefit of all that lives.”  (Jack Kornfield)

André has benefited countless numbers of human beings, with his music and his soul.

And what of awakening?

“An awakening is a sudden, profound shift in awareness.  It most commonly refers to the expansion of consciousness.”  (AI)

***

Look at those eyes

Alive, piercing, encompassing

Eyes that touch others in the audience …

Play on, André

It’s one of my two favourite words.  The other is “love”.

But I’m not talking about cartoons.  Here are some words that my phone points to:

Enthusiasm, energy, oomph, warmth, vigour, life, spirit

“Animal and animate … Those latter terms derive from the Latin anima, a distinct term that means “soul” or “breath” and that suggests someone’s physical vitality or life force – the breath of life.”

And so … may we breathe life into our moments.  May our experiences and the people in them glow.  Shining within, shining without.

Speaking of which, there is my home city of Gent, Belgium.  Every night in the centrum, lights attached to the buildings come on at sunset and disappear at midnight.  Voilà:

And voilà again:

These scenes are a fifteen-minute walk from my apartment

I am blessed

The world is alive

Dirk is my marvelous neighbour.  He celebrated his 70th birthday last night with a grand party in his apartment.

Luc is Dirk’s friend and was there to cheer the host on.

For me the evening was about them.

Here’s Dirk opening his presents, waxing poetic about whomever and whatever came his way:

Dirk has a flair for the dramatic, partially due to his years of directing plays.  He also has a huge heart of kindness.  One expression of that was his generous offering of cava, wine, pancakes, melting white chocolate, frites … and mayonnaise!

And then there was my sitting companion Luc.  He told me he was a cartoonist, going by the name O-sekoer.  As Luc showed me some of his work on the phone, my eyes grew.  Brilliant … passionate … courageous.

He scattered my brain cells.  And they’re still barely holding together.

Here’s Jesus:

Immense contrast.  Shocking.

And then there’s a gruesome similarity:

Luc was teaching me.  I looked around Dirk’s living room at the faces loving him.  And then my eyes settled on an object …

Within the cage … yearning for freedom

***

Thank you, Luc

Thank you, Dirk

We arranged to meet today for lunch at IKEA.  It’s been months since our last time in the same room.  And it was an easy coming together.

A woman in her 30’s, a boy almost 3, a man 77.  No generational divide here.  I was proud of my ability to slobber soft ice cream on my face, matching Raphaël lick for lick.

I watched Julie’s love for her son.  It poured out of her … in words, in glances, in touches.  And the young boy soaked it in.  Oh so close to mom.

Julie and I talked about this and that.  Really the topics didn’t matter.  Our reunion did.  A quietness along with laughter, a melting as the words floated away.

I promised myself on the tram to IKEA that I would sing Julie a song.  I had the thought “But where will I do that in a busy store?”  No matter.  Our table in the cafeteria did nicely.  Oh … and the song was “It’s About Time” by John Denver.  Julie liked it.

After lunch we ventured into the bowels of the superstore, in search of a wooden rack for Julie’s husband Bart’s ceramic creations.  And we found it – a team effort.

At one point, when Raphaël and Julie were doing something else, I gazed up at the image on a wall …

I know the idea was to sell a table and chair set but the woman’s peace reminded me of mine.

***

The three of us

Ordinary and lovely

Blessed

First of all, I forgot to send you the selfie that Elwin took of us in Leiden, so here it is:

Moments of companionship linger in the soul

***

My friend Kobe and I went to dinner last night at Dish, a fine restaurant that is sadly closing in two days.  My friend Florian arrived yesterday.  He will be staying with me for two weeks, using my apartment as a base as he studies for his exams.

The three of us sat in my living room last night, talking about life.  At one point, one of them said something that inspired me.  Who?  What?  I can’t remember … a common theme for me recently.

I grabbed my phone, pretended to dial whomever we were talking about, and proceeded to have a two-minute conversation with the mystery human.  I also don’t remember what I said, but the two of us had a fine back-and-forth time.

Afterwards Kobe said “Why aren’t you an actor?  Why don’t stand before us at an open mic session and perform a skit solo?”  Or words to that effect.

In the words of the immortal philosopher Lore Nachtergaele, “Why not?”

Something fresh, bubbling out of the mouth, with an unknown destination, loosey-goosey …

or

Audition to act in a play.  It would have to be in English, of course, but I imagine such plays are produced in Belgium.

And then the question becomes whether it’s this:

That would be a good idea

Maybe someday

Or this:

I will act in a play that will start its run sometime in 2027

***

Hmm … quite the difference

How strange and magical that someone I’ve never met (not even on Zoom) can touch my heart so deeply.

Sharon Salzberg is a Buddhist meditation teacher.  In 1975 she co-founded the Insight Meditation Society retreat centre in Barre, Massachusetts, USA.  IMS is a sacred space for me.  I’ve been there eight times.

Sharon writes … and her words have reached millions.  I write … and my words haven’t.  Oh well.

Here are some gems from Sharon:

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere.  You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.

In my weaker days, that’s a hard one to get.  For many years, the thought “Love them all” has resided in my head, but I too often forget that I’m part of the all.

When you flip the switch in that attic, it doesn’t matter whether its been dark for ten minutes, ten years or ten decades.  The light still illuminates the room and banishes the murkiness, letting you see the things you couldn’t see before.

It’s never too late, Bruce, to open your eyes and see the beauty surrounding.  In fact, now would be a lovely time to do that.

Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what’s happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what’s happening, stories that get in the way of direct experience.

Just “this” … sadness, traffic, rain, sitting with a friend.

Meditation is the ultimate mobile device.  You can use it anywhere, anytime, unobtrusively.

Pretty cost-effective, I’d say.  And it fits nicely in my backpack as I roam around.

All beings want to be happy, yet so very few know how.  It is out of ignorance that any of us cause suffering, for ourselves or for others.

Ignorance: lack of knowledge, understanding or awareness.  Yes, that sounds like me sometimes, and everyone else on the planet.  It’s not “badness”, just not knowing.

***

You and me … stumbling through life

Elwin is a friend of mine whom I’ve never met … in the same room.  We’re members of the Evolutionary Collective, with members across the world. 

We meet on Zoom, so the love we have for each other has been confined to the rectangle of a computer screen.  Not yesterday.  Not today.

Elwin is visiting family in Leiden, Netherlands and I took the train from Gent to be with him.

We talked and we didn’t talk.  All was connection.  All was easy.  We’re companions.

Here we are at lunch:

And here is Leiden in the rain.  The canals.  The terraces.  The buildings soaked in history.

And the wee streets:

Amid our wanderings was Hortus Botanicus, Leiden’s botanical garden.  And I found a friend.  Many years ago my wife Jody and I hosted a symphony of house plants.  My favourite was what you see – Calathea Makoyana.  It’s as if an artist took a pen and drew tiny black lines on the leaves.  I bowed in remembrance.

And this vision.  It looks like a carpet around the plants but it’s really little bits of green floating on water.

***

Just before we said goodbye at the train station, Elwin took a marvelous selfie.  I’ll share that with you tomorrow.

It’s a fine journey, this life

It’s a 2023 film about a man who cleans public toilets in Tokyo … a wise man.

It doesn’t sound like a good choice.  Not a fulfilling career.  Not a career at all.  But Hirayama smells the roses.

What if I simply said that my life is sufficient, that is without deficit?  Not needing to acquire that magic experience or object that would fill my glass.

This is it

Right here, right now

A dirty toilet needs to become clean

Here are some comments on Hirayama and his seeing from the director – Wim Wenders:

He did his toilet cleaning job with the same dedication that Japanese craftsmen have toward each object they create, whether it is pottery or carving things out of wood or painting a traditional screen.  They treat each and every piece as if it is unique.  Hirayama approaches each toilet like that as well.

…

You see the world more and more from Hirayama’s point of view.  From the moment he opens his eyes in the morning to the moment in the evening when these eyes fall asleep over his book, you look all day through these friendly, vibrant eyes.  And you slowly learn to watch the world like he does.

…

Through his effort to always do his best, through his silence, through his kindness to each and every person, through his attentiveness, he slowly manages to let us, the audience, also live in the here and now, a place so many of us have even forgotten is there.

…

He is indeed a free man.

***

And may we all be free

I think “euphemism” is a dangerous word.  The dictionary gives a more measured approach:

A figure of speech that replaces harsh or unpleasant terms with milder, vaguer ones

…

A mild, indirect or polite word or expression used to replace one that is considered too harsh, blunt, vulgar or unpleasant.  They are commonly used to soften bad news or discuss sensitive topics – such as death, aging or job loss – without causing offense or discomfort

Vulgar, unpleasant and true, I would add.  And actually I disagree with vulgar and unpleasant.

Why not be direct … in words and in eye contact?  Fear, I guess.  Fine as an acquaintance but lacking as a constant companion.

Here are some No’s and Yes’s for me:

Between jobs … Unemployed

Economically disadvantaged … Poor

Workforce restructuring … Laying off employees

Passed away … Died

In a better place … Dead

Golden years … Old age

Resting in peace … Dead

Washroom or restroom … Toilet

Expecting … Pregnant

Heavy-set or Plus size … Overweight or Fat

Letting go … Farting

Collateral damage … Civilian injuries and death

Revenue enhancement … Tax increase

Pre-owned … Used (for cars)

Enhanced interrogation … Torture

Senior citizen … Old person

Having a little work done … Having cosmetic surgery

No longer with us … Dead

Sleeping together … Having sex

Final resting place … Buried

***

And so:

This old person will go to the toilet before he dies