So many days of saying no rain, no rain, and Sunday was all rain. A pineapple express moved in from Hawaii, a huge wet air mass that dumped on the coast. I would have gone out to watch the trickles running down the hillsides, filling the gutters and the roadside culvert pipes, but I am stuck indoors nursing a swollen foot that asks of me that I not disturb it. I have been reading near the fireplace instead, and looking out through the front window into the redwood forest. It is so nice to see a sloppy wet day come to us.

And when I tire of reading I pick up the Tablet PC and do some digital painting and sketching. I have a low tolerance for television because it quickly numbs my mind. I would prefer to soak my sore, swollen foot in television, if that were possible. But better than all of this, knowing that I can't do much outdoors anyhow because of all the rain, is to just imagine what spring time will look like. It's not so many days away. I see daffodil bulbs outside the window in one of my growing boxes are already lifting from their sleep and yawning in quite a sensational display of yellow. And an ornamental fruit tree down below me by the road suddenly burst into bright white blossoms only two days ago.

I am reading Eckhart Tolle, who I had never read before, a sort of modern mystic with a simple and ancient message to live in the present moment, rather than in the past or future. I bought two of his books from Amazon, upon recommendation that they complemented the thoughts of idealists such as Emerson and Thoreau. I am going through the first one now, titled "Stillness Speaks". He seems to be very good at taking some complex philosophical ideas and turning them into easy to understand lessons for living. As I read him, I am wondering to myself where he got his ideas. Mostly, he says in the introduction, they are lifted from the world's great wisdom traditions. I have a manageable collection of books from some of these traditions and would add some of his references to my collection if he would tell me which ones, but he's not very good at doing that. Because he mixes and matches ideas and traditions and then paraphrases, I get a sort of hodge podge of understanding from him.

Here is a sample of his way of thinking and writing:

"Stillness is the only thing in this world that has no form. But then, it is not really a thing, and it is not of this world."

Maybe I'm missing something here, but he first defines a thing and then says that the definition is not true. When read quickly, it seems to make sense, but upon second look, it makes none, which causes me to wonder how carefully I must go through his material, when he says that the whole idea of his book is to abandon thought and find a peaceful silence within. Instead, I keep asking myself where he is coming from.

The Tolle books are fairly short and not too tough to read. It's something to do on a rainy day. I have more Tolle reading ahead. Maybe the next book, "The Power of Now", is better arranged. He seems to be intent on helping calm a maddened world. Some of his words have a life-giving spirit about them. He has sold millions and millions of them, though a lot of that has to do with Oprah promoting him. Other proponents of the mindfulness movement--this idea of living in the present moment--such as Thich Nhat Hahn, are more consistent and precise in how they present their message. I can read from one paragraph to the next without a break or gap in the logic, so I don't feel like I'm being hoodwinked by a smooth talker.