Simpicity it is

I am off and running with my vow of Simplicity. I have been taking the idea of vow very seriously. When I was in junior high I thought very seriously about becoming a nun. Not because I was extremely devout to a religious organization but because I felt a higher calling to help others, I enjoyed toughing it, and I wanted to live a life I felt was honorable. Though I left the catholic church when I was 13, I swooned over Maria's life in the sound of music making clothing out of curtains and getting away with looking beautiful in short hair. I loved the comedy and innocent acceptance in Sister Act with Woopi and still to this day have the rosary I bought with my own money from the Catholic gift store in Munising Michigan the summer before my great grand mother passed.

My great grand mother was a spiritual inspiration to me. She took care of so many people, was conscientious of her resources and lived simply and in prayer/meditation. She didn't care what the latest Vatican ruling was she was still going to pray for those in purgatory everyday. And knowing more about Catholic mysticism and devoutness I truly believe that the people she was praying for in purgatory were not dead but those in suffering alive today living in limbo without conviction or purpose. I feel it is very similar to what the Buddhist monks and nuns do.

The more I study monastic life the more similarities I draw among the Buddhists and catholic monks/nuns. I however will never be a religion again....(part of my simplicity) But I did think about carrying around an index card with all my beliefs written on one side and any new ones I find throughout life written on the other. I can cross out the ones that I don't need anymore as they become part of me instead of a belief I need to internalize yet or the ones I eventually discover that repeat one another. Right now this is all it would have on it:

4 noble truths
-there is suffering
-I am the cause of my suffering
-There is an answer for my suffering
-The answer is the 8-fold path
8 fold path
-true...vision, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration
3 jewels
-to care
-to be fair
-to be humble
3 promises
-the divine is indwelling
-our teacher (the holy spirit) is thus within us
-this teacher will bring us peace
We are each individually responsible for finding our way to the source
Our deeds have consequences good and bad
Heaven and hell exist on Earth and are not permanent but fixtures of perspective.