STRANGE DAYS

I notice that it has been nearly a week since I last made an entry in The Buddha Diaries. So strange! I had not thought it was so long. My mind has been on other things. The coronavirus, of course, is an ubiquitous concern; and there has been virus-related illness in the family. I have chosen not to write about it because there are privacy considerations other than my own.

I have also been more than a bit preoccupied with an invitation to write the introduction for a book about the notoriously enigmatic Heart Sutra. I'm not ready to post any details yet, except to say that I feel honored by the invitation... and somewhat afflicted by what I can only describe as performance anxiety. Can I do a good job? Will I manage to put together some thoughts that are worthy of a challenging text?

It has been a strange week. There have been very hot days, including last Sunday when Ellie and went out too late in the morning for a walk with Jake and it turned out to be much longer than we had planned: a familiar shortcut that we normally take was inaccessible, the path chained off by city authorities due to the virus fears. The unplanned extension proved to be quite exhausting in the heat, and since then I have been less than assiduous with my exercise. Today I had arranged for a workout date on Zoom, but that feel through--and I have little motivation, at this point, to set out on the hilly streets around our home.

Besides, after several straight days of heat, it is curiously cloudy and cool. I'll probably stay home and read a book.