Last night Finland switched back to Winter Time, early on Sunday morning. Clocks were put back one hour so when time is right now 10 (10AM), Summer Time would be 11 (11AM).
The end of summertime takes place across Europe at the same time in order to guarantee no disruption to international rail and air traffic. (Yle.fi) Cool.
This means that mornings are more darker and evenings are more darker. In Northern Finland kaamos (polar night) is getting closer.
Kaamos is the time of year when people in northern Finland live in a dim blue twilight. There are only four hours of light during the day. It is not pitch dark but visibility is almost as good during bright moonlit nights as during the days, because the moon light shimmers on the snow and reflects off of it. As well as the snow reflecting light the winter sky is lit with northern lights. Animals living up north during winter have adapted to this lack of sun light. The scantiness and total lack of natural light cause more problems for humans than animals. Constant darkness has many effects on the human mind and body; some tire easily, some lose their sleep rhythm and others crave sweets.Hiking and going on excursions during Kaamos brings with it unique challenges, as the arrival of winter, the freezing over of lakes and rivers and snow conditions are difficult to predict. It is worth the difficulty though as the peace, quiet and unique lighting make such hikes unforgettable. Kaamos-time is not the coldest time of year. The winter’s most freezing part begins at the end of Kaamos. Kaamos is a perfect time to wind-down and regain one’s strength.
Kaamos is the opposite of the summer’s midnight sun. Both phenomenons are based on the axis of the Earth and our planet’s tilted position towards the sun. During winter the North Pole is tilted away from the sun and is therefore left in shade. The further north one travels the shorter the time of daylight is each day and the longer Kaamos lasts. The North Pole is for this reason the darkest point. The time of blue twilight begins at the end of September and lasts to the middle of March. In the northernmost village in Finland, Nuorgam the sun drops below the horizon at the end of November and stays there to the middle of January, the darkness thus lasting bout two months. In the Ivalo area Kaamos lasts 37 days. When the northernmost part of the planet is draped in the deepest darkness at the end of December the South Pole is washed over by the midnight sun. (
Kaamos)
But because I live in Southern Finland, we don't have kaamos or anything compared to that. But winter is dark also in here. I know a lot of people who hates winter because it's so dark but I have always loved autumn and winter. And spring and summer. Four different kinds of seasons are soooo cool and lovely although they can suck too. But I believe these different kinds of feelings are in our minds, they don't belong in the winter or in the autumn; winter is winter, autumn is autumn. Deluded mind, deluded reality. Balanced mind, realistic reality. Sometimes it's cold, sometimes it's hot.
Master Dogen wrote in
Shobogenzo, chapter
Shunju (Spring and Autumn), translation by Nishijima/Cross, Vol III:
- - -
Great Master Tozan Gohon, the story goes, is asked by a monk, "When cold or heat come, how are we to avoid them?"
The master says, "Why do you not go to the place without cold and heat?"
The monk says, "What is the place without cold and heat?"
The master says, "When it's cold, kill the
acarya* with cold. When it is hot, kill the
acarya with heat."
(*
Jari represents the Sanskrit term of respect
acarya. In this case, it means "you". [Nishijima/Cross])
- - -
We can choose what to do. We can whine, we can argue; some people drink booze or use drugs to ease their pain; Buddhist point of view is that we can just accept everything just like it is; when it's cold, kill the cold in your mind; when it's hot, kill the heat in your mind. Don't let your mind control you. If it's cold in your mind, then it's cold in sauna too. If it's hot in your mind, then it's hot in the frozen lake too. Don't let your mind control you. Because this is not easy, master Dogen and other Buddhist masters have urged us to practice zazen. Zazen can balance our body and mind, zazen can really help us. But because it is a practice, we should practice continuously. If it's cold, then it's cold. If it's hot, then it's hot. Zazen is just zazen, reality is just reality. But without practicing the practice, there is no practice. We can only experience zazen through practice. And practice means wholehearted practice where we try to do our best to help ourselves and others; this is wholehearted zazen Dogen meant; zazen ain't just sitting, zazen is living in daily life. We can only live by being alive. We can't stop our thoughts but we don't have to be attached to them. Zazen is letting go, dropping off body and mind. Accepting that sometimes winter can feel really cold and it is not so nice. But because in the spesific moment when we're experiencing the cold, we can't be anywhere else. We can whine, we can argue or we can just accept the cold, just as it is. And by practicing zazen everyday, we can feel the cold just like it is. And it is so damn cold.
Master Dogen wrote in the same chapter
Shunju "Just be diligent in practice at once." Winter is coming closer, wonderful!
Photo by TimoOK
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