Measure Twice, Cut Once

On my way along my path, I have been noticing how often a person's last ditch and often hopeless attempt at something actually works.

People often leave the thing they dislike (or simply like least) until last - then seem surprised when it seems to work.

Where does this surprise come from?

The thing you put off is usually the reason you tried the others first - They weren't as painful to attempt compared to admitting that your likes and dislikes could be wrong and that you need to start with a fresh new approach that is more likely to work. So everyone tends to fixate on the things that they could do that could go wrong or that they may do poorly in such an attempt. This results in them doing the things that would usually make them hesitate, with more mindfulness and discipline than all their other attempts. Close enough isn't good enough for the things you try to avoid. You only want to do this once! When you attempt what you think is impossible you tend to be more diligent and want to take notes so you can throw it back in the face of all those that suggested it to you. Throw it in your own face for even contemplating doing such an unlikely thing ...

The discipline, the mindfulness and the methodical diligence you apply to your task are what makes it work - Not the fact you hate it.

Having the painful things work opens your eyes to what you have been missing - the ability to access to a more honest and authentic place in the world. Shying away from the truth you see in those moments and convincing yourself that the world is against you will get you know where.

Using the memories that come from times of learning that stick in your mind and skills gained from those experiences will help to startle yourself awake and to open your eyes wide and see the real complexities of the world as it is. Such a view is priceless ...

#bowiebardo

Bowie steps out of the Bardo (the state between lives as prescribed by Tibetan Buddhism - David Bowie was Buddhist) - here is how you can aid in calling him back to earth.

It's an interesting idea - so get into it if you want to find the first Ziggy Stardust Rinpoche, the first Rock and Roll tulku from the line of Bowie.

bowiebardo.com

[repost from my personal facebook]

Zen Monsters and Zen Masters

Recently I have been thinking about my steps on an (or is it "the") spiritual path. This has been helped along by reading the book Zen Confidential: Confessions of a wayward monk by Shozan Jack Haubner. I have felt a certain kinship with its content, particularly in referring to oneself as more of a "Zen Monster" than Zen Master.

I have always had a strong interest in the viscera of spiritual practice and some pieces of wisdom I have on standby seem to reflect this -

Smile while you still have teeth

And something I was only able to articulate (somewhat) artfully in full only recently -

Don't like how you appear to the world?

Then change it by changing what it depends on:

Only after stripping away the layers of flesh can we start to polish bone

This fascination with the darkness and how it comes into play in everyday life looks to have served me well - it seems to make me different to the rank and file yogurt fanciers that appear too uptight to even pass wind. Everyone needs to pass wind from time to time. It is one of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's go-to topics to bring people at ease and prove that he is as human as the rest of us - or like the rest of us: just happening to be in human form for the moment.

People, even in spiritual traditions seem soo intent on proving themselves that they get in the way of any good they are able to do. There is no shame in practicing a skill until you master it, no matter how simple. Perhaps this is why most courses in meditation and mindful thinking start with the breath, something no one has really thought about until they must and even then it is still a thing that may be trained and practiced.

People who think of themselves as great often have to tell themselves that story. If the story stops, they stop believing they have to fight off rising feeling of them being terrible. They suddenly have to face who they really are: someone capable of nasty things and someone who has to live with what they have already done. 

That makes it hard for them to look at their own life and find the lessons they can learn from those situations.

Only beings of pure light aren't afraid of the darkness - and that's because they take their own light with them. It looks like the rest of us still have some dark lessons to learn ...

Click to see more of this comic, and more from Zen Pencils