So here I am again after a month or so of not writing anything... much like my relationship with my Neti Pot (I only do it when I remember). But in all seriousness, I often get struck with the inspiration to blog when I'm no where near a computer and so it gets left undone. But every once in a while when inspiration hits me and I'm near to the laptop and I have a piece of time that I can allow for such things, blogging happens.... like right now!!
So I sit here with so many things inspiring me that I can't choose which to write about.?.?.? So I'll blog about what is happening in my mind right now, in my city right now and in the world right now.
This path of a Yogi is definitely not an easy path. To the outsider it may seem as though I live a life of peace and happiness and tranquility, and that is not completely untrue. But as I said, this path is uneasy. So many times in life I hear people say, "Oh I wish I could do Yoga but my body isn't that flexible." or " I would love to be able to meditate but I can't shut my mind off." or as a personal trainer "I wish I could look like that but I don't have the motivation to work that hard." And so hear I sit racking my brain as to what is wrong with people?!?!? And I know, somewhere inside, that it is not my place to judge or look at the world or it's inhabitants as being wrong because.... any situation where we give labels of right and wrong is judgement.
And so sometimes, as we Yogis do, I get frustrated. Frustrated at the fact that we live in this world drowning in consumerism. This world where we value more the things that we want rather than the things that we really need. This world where, more times than not, when you smile at someone you won't get a smile in return. This world where, the youth are being mentored by the people they see in music videos and in reality TV shows. This land where we've become so lazy that we now can buy premade (highly processed) muffin mix in a tin.
It is very difficult to, as Yogis say, see myself in everyone that passes by me. It is even more difficult for me to try and understand how people can, day by day, see their loved ones dying from disease and not take the steps to lead a healthier lifestyle. It's hard to see my father watch his brother die of Lung Cancer and continue to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. Or to see a young, pregnant woman not cherishing the unborn child she has inside of her by smoking and drinking. But... and there is a but... it is not my place to judge.
Jack Kornfield tells a story of a group of Tibetan Forest Monks that follow their master Ajahn Chah to England. The master sends these monks out into the streets for Oms rounds (they basically go out and beg for food and can never say thank you in return). One of the monks asks his master, "Why would we go out in this place? They give us almost no food, people think it's strange." Ajahn Chah replied, "You do this because it is your practice. You must go out because you are a messanger. It's possible, you don't know it, but it's possible that someone walking down the street could see you and that person could be the next Buddha. So you go out not just for yourself but also for others, so that you can tell them that there is another way."
This story really rings true. Buddhist Monks while meditating will end their meditations silently saying to themselves, "May my meditations not only benefit myself but also benefit those around me." I remember doing this when I went to a Buddhist temple here in Hamilton. And so I walk away from this blog a little more enlightened than frustrated. I do this practice and follow this path not only for myslef but so that what I do can benefit others. To let them know that, "There is another way."
Namaste...shanti...shanti...shanti
