~ kusala
[ ku-sa-la: Pali term meaning wholesome, skillful, good, meritorious. ]
[ Action characterized by this quality (kusala-kamma) is bound to result (eventually) in happiness and a favorable outcome. ]
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kusala.diaryland.com

2006-02-27 - 10:38 a.m.

Haves and Have-Nots

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed more closely one of the 7:25 24X regulars, a guy who looks to be in his late fifties and works at the College of Creative Studies. I have always been quite aware of him, since he's often engaged in conversation by the curmudgeonly, activist-leaning, sweet-but-slightly-wild-looking woman of about the same age, whom I might call the "crazy aunt" of the UCSB commuter crowd. I usually sit near them every day, even though I'm slightly annoyed by their habit of regularly having fairly loud conversations from several seats apart -- conversations which feel like they're going through my body, since I'm usually sitting between them -- instead of just f***ing sitting next to one another and speaking at a more intimate volume.

In any case, I noticed this man on this particular day, because I had recently heard the Crazy Aunt telling another bus rider about the fact that the man (who was not on the bus that day) had been out ill recently with bronchitis or something, and that he was quite sensitive to respiratory illnesses because he only has one lung.

He only has one lung.

It just got me thinking: how many people, about whom we would generally not notice anything particularly remarkable, are living in our midst without something so major?

Or with something so major?


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