Good Karma Music Stories

Many are the negative stories where I live of the humble little slug. Icky, slimy, and nasty are just a few of the words used to describe them.I have never felt that way about the little creatures. I have not lived here very long, so maybe I did not have an opportunity to absorb this culture of slug discrimination.Anyway, I go out of my way to avoid these slow moving inhabitants of our earth and alway hope that other people will do the same. The other day, however, I noticed that a slug had ventured onto the path that surrounds our house, which is under construction. I worried that some of the workers might not see him and he would be stepped on, so I scooped him up on a board and brought him down the street to a nearby pond.Slugs are just as important to the earth as we are…maybe more so. I believe that all creatures, large and small, are worth making all reasonable efforts to extend our kindness to. As we are taught, all creatures may have been our mother in a previous life….

While in China this past May, our group had the opportunity to live and work at a small children’s orphanage outside of Beijing. The orphanage was American-founded, but the property was poorly maintained. While some of the group went to clean the playground equipment or care for the lawn, a friend and I went to the I.C.U. This Intensive Care Unit was where they kept the extremely sick children, and since they were so fragile they had to be kept in a very clean environment all the time. So, my friend and I tided up the whole building went up stairs to the attic to make sure everything was in order. When we got up there, we were taken back by the horrific mess that had overtaken the space. All of the ducts from the bathrooms vented into this small area and the entire room was covered, floor to ceiling, with fecal dust. The dust caused severe odors and many more problems were to come if it wasn’t taken care of. We finally found a way to clean the mess without making a huge cloud, which could harm the children, and remove all of the dust and odor. It took us over 4 hours of back-bending work in the attic plus the additional 2 ½ hours we spent cleaning the rest of the house to get it all done, but to know that the kids weren’t at danger was the best thing and it made every aching moment worth it.Amitabha

I have been a harmless child since I was born and believe I have brought lots of laughter and joy to everyone around me. I sincerely hope I will continue to be such a person and will grow up to be a kind and compassionate person and will contribute positively to society

I baked an orange poppy seed cake for my classmates to cheer up our Wednesday tutorials. Went down like a treat!

I enjoying playing violin and have been playing with HP Orchestra for years, the rehearsal is once a week. Earlier this year, a neighbor comes to me that she organized a small music group in the church. The group will visit nursing homes and play music for elders. We’ll play some hymn, and some other folk or easy music. The rehearsal will be in the church once a week. I had a rule trying not to be away from my family for more then one night a week. I need to decide which music group to participate between HP Orchestra and this church group. Partly because I like the small group, but largely because I think it’s a much better cause to play music for elders who can’t get to concerts easily then just to entertain general public, I decide to play with the church music cell.The experience of playing for elders have been very rewarding. Seeing them sing and clap hands when we play the music brings us more joy then what we bring to them I think.As a Buddhist, does it bother me to play hymn, rehearsal in the church and join the prayer before the performance ? Not at all. It’s a great feeling that people with different belief work together to do good deed.

A rat was found in the bin by some children at the school i work at. They crowded around and the poor little rat was cowering with it’s little heart racing. I took the bin (with the rat) to the school ‘bush’ area and recited some medicine buddha mantras and released it.Hopefully this beautiful little creature will make a connection with the Dharma in another life.

I gave my street parking ticket to someone who didn’t have one displayed on their deskboard.