# data[].attributes.body
I made a collage with stuff that had been laying on my desk for months - most things forgotten after caring for a baby took over my life. The lists, flyers and notes could all be categorized under the 4 pairs of 8 wordly winds - advertisements for stuff I wanted to have or do (gain/loss, pleasure), things I wanted to do or needed to do or felt guilty for putting of (pleasure, good/bad repute, praise/blame), etc. On top of that layer I glued the pictures of our daughter that were also laying on my desk and that we had used to make a birth card. On top of that, some drawings of examples - green for gain/loss, red for praise/blame, blue for good/bad repute, and yellow for pleasure/pain.

# data[].attributes.body
May you accept the warm breeze of gain with an open heart of gratitude, never grasping, only knowing.

And when the whisking wind of loss takes that which is dear, may you let go softly, knowing that it was never truly “yours”.

May the buoyant flutter of status upon your sails, not lead you to rocky shores,

And may the heavy gusts of disgrace help anchor your humility.

May the breath of praise, carrying its sweet compliments, not tantalise the mind.

And may the sharp gasps of blame, both fair and foul, teach you that which needs to be learned.

May you settle the whirling winds of sukkah, blushed with its soft light of joy, and channel it into samadhi, where wisdom may arise.

And may you receive the dark currents of dukkha, the first truth that the Buddha revealed, knowing the path out starts from here.

And with an open heart that lets go, may you practice everything.

Until one day, the things that hold you in, disappear with the wind.

# data[].attributes.body
Pleasure and gain, the wise one knows, lead one not to the further shore,
Loss and pain, the wise one knows, we should renounce them both before
They grasp us in their vice like grip,
For the far shore has need of a sturdy ship.

Fame and praise, the sage declares, are feelings that you should oppose,
Blame and shame, the sage declares, likewise are thoughts the sage well knows
We should not let our minds to craft,
For the far shore has need of a sturdy raft.

Eight worldly concerns, eight worldly students, to study this is surely prudent,
To save us from our blind illusion, so full of greed, hatred, delusion.
We practice, we study, our time we devote,
For the far shore has need of a sturdy boat.

Yet if we learn this sutta's crux, that everything is just in flux,
We can yet cross that mighty chasm !
Please not let this vehicle capsize,
For the far shore is where my future lies.

# data[].attributes.body
There is something further,
Beyond Gain and Loss.
When I think of him
and it upsets me,
I note, "Loss, Loss," and try to
see it with Equanimity.

Deepness expands and
Nothingness erases and
pain is still there
but I have a way to deal with it,
an ambition for removing the hurt.

But when I spend time with my family
and we do nothing in particular together and have fun
That replaces the loss;
It is more effective,
But it is not timeless;
It has a long, long timeline
of family going back and forward
In an ever-striving line,
Trying to get.... where?

Maybe to Equanimity.

# data[].attributes.body
Pleasure and pain

It is never all or nothing, things and feelings always move along the line.

I have an influence on where on the line I want to be by actively putting things into perspective using yardsticks such as:

All is impermanent and changing.

To embrace change is to go with the flow.

To realise that they do not impact my core self.

Remembering ‘How important is it’ and I am not that important.

That I am a willing participant in my own dukkha or sukha.

Equanimity is attenuating the amplitudes of pleasure or pain.

# data[].attributes.body
Pleasure and Pain

It is never all or nothing, things and feelings always move along the line.
I have an influence on where along the line I want to be by actively putting things into perspective and using yardsticks such as:

All is impermanent and changing.

To embrace change is to go with the flow.

To realise that they do not impact my core self.

Remembering 'How important is it' and I am not that important.

That I am a willing participant in my own dukkha or sukha.

Equanimity is attenuating the amplitudes of pleasure or pain.

# data[].attributes.body
I decided I needed to bake a cake to represent my journey with the eight worldly concerns.  The timing was bad as it coincided with the ripping out of the old kitchen and replacement of a new kitchen.  During the 3 day time slot I had to produce a delicious cake many hurdles were put in my way:
No oven
No worktops
No baking utensils or ingredients (all packed away)
Intermittent electricity and water supplies.
Frequent ‘blame’ between my husband and I when we couldn’t find anything, paint was spilt and wires were cut through.
The kitchen fitters kept letting us down.
The whole process was a nightmare.

Determined not to be beaten (or be tempted to buy a readymade cake) I took over my daughters kitchen for a few hours.  We were soon joined by my 2nd daughter and we had a wonderful, glorious catch up whilst baking, drinking tea and eating cake.
The pleasure we had was worth the pain of a stressful week!

# data[].attributes.body
Interesting and useful discussions but best of all getting to know everyone in the group.