By: Pelvo White, Jr.

Pelvo White, Jr. — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 06:57:45 +0000

I am a master at keeping my distance from other people. Some people thought that I was just a cold , frigid guy, but this wasn’t true. I just enjoyed my privacy. I learned to mind my own business by studying and practicing Zen Buddhism while living in Fairbanks, Alaska for approximately eight years. Fairbanks is about one hundred and ninety-eight miles from the Arctic Circle. In this part of Alaska are wild animals, earthquakes, tundra fires and volcanoes. I experienced many spring breakups, summers, and falls which are warm and comfortable. and snow packed winters in” Magna Terra” ( i.e. the great land ). The springs and summers are comfortable, and allowed for out of doors activities like fishing, hiking, panning for gold, and searching for jade. The winters were long and dark and freezing cold. In time,your body adjusts to wearing only a field jacket outside for brief periods of time when it was fifty below zero. I experienced six months of daylight and six months of darkness. In spring, summer,and fall the sun sat for about an hour and it was day again. The sun shined at midnight and at twelve noon. You had to create your own artificial darkness in your bedroom by placing sheets of aluminum foil at your windows. In winter, you spend many hours inside. You get up in the morning and it is dark, You go to work and work all day and it is dark. You come home from work to eat your supper and it is still dark. In winter it is dark all day and all night. In a situation like this you must find ways to fight ” cabin fever ” which is a troublesome state of mind encountered by some people after long periods of being alone. Loneliness is more acute during the winter months when your field of vision is comprised of visions of the aurora borealis, walls of ice fog, various peaks of white snow, an occasional bull and or cow moose, and packs of big, powerful wolves.

The Zen Buddhist proclaims ” I sat before a blank wall and came away enlightened .”The combined sameness of Alaska rural living in time tends to create a boring blank wall. The logic here is that if there is nothing more to read or observe on the blank wall, the mind, or your attention, turns inward. Through introspection, interesting learning begin to happen when one cognitively explore the space and content of their own stored thoughts. I can envision myself making a tall lamp out of a length of beautiful diamond willow tree. I can stroll and admire the beautiful contrast of white and gold displayed by the tall birch trees in fall. The mind is a wonderful celestial car with which you can experience the present or go backwards or forward in time. The expanses of three dimensional space and time are yours to experience and re-experience time and time again.You can sit and plan how to clean your house, envision how you will do it, and then get up and begin cleaning according to your plan. Growth and true enlightenment comes when you are able to analyze your thoughts with a mind towards improving you mind. From your COVID-19 confinement, while devoid of personal contacts, think about the face of your mother, your father, your sister or your brother, your children, your school teacher, or other acquaintances. Envision your creation of artworks.

Converse mentally with a friend. Remember and re-enjoy your party at the lake or that time when you caught the big salmon. The mind is a wonderful celestial car with which you may zoom backwards in time or forward in time. You can use your mind to picture it all, the flight over the Pacific Ocean, the cruise ship on the Caribbean Sea, the mountainous, winding road across the Brooks Range down the hills and through the Matanuska-Susitna Valley all the way to Anchorage. From the confines of your home, mentally imagine your activities today, what you did yesterday, and will do tomorrow. Practice and learn the value of your mind by repeating these fascinating mental exercises.

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By: Pelvo White, Jr.