I hesitated telling anyone this for fear of looking like I was bragging, but I figured it’s silly to keep the ‘karma’ to myself, and that could very well be clinging to the deed, so:
Last night I passed by what looked like a homeless man, muttering angrily to himself, surrounded by bags and ratty clothes. I smiled at him and walked on. Then passed by a gas station, bought some snacks (chips, beef sticks, peanuts, flavored water) and walked back, handed it over, and spent the next 20 minutes listening to his various sad affairs: drug addictions, getting shot, watching his kid get shot and going back to drugs after a decade of being clean, and was in the process of looking for a homeless shelter of some kind then finding a low-income apartment then looking for rehab to get back on his feet. I couldn’t offer many suggestions, but it was only 20 minutes of my time to stand and listen. And yes I made sure to meditate and try and cultivate the feelings of compassion afterwards, then made a little ‘prayer’ to, I guess, pass on the good karma for everyone’s benefit rather than keep it to myself. (Or however that’s supposed to work, could only vaguely remember that point from that Tibetan Buddhist retreat a week and a half ago.)
harvest bowl of caught thoughts 