Zen Antidote!

[Guest guest]

>in case a laugh wld be helpful1

Definitely good for a big, wide grin!

Blissings,

Sam

Don't believe everything you think. ~ Bumper StickerMany of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our point of view. ~ Obi-Wan Kenobi Choose your illusion carefully. ~ UnknownWho looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. ~ C.G. Jung

[Guest guest]

Alice,

Your Zen Antidote/Anecdote brings several things to

mind.

One is the (perhaps apochryphal) story about Gandhi

when approached by a mother asking him if he could

give advice on how to have her child cut back on the

amount of sugar she was eating. Gandi responded by

suggesting she return to the same spot to meet with

him a week later. When she met with him a week later,

he provided his advice, at which point the mother

asked why he couldn't have told her the same thing the

week before. Gandhi replied that a week ago he, too,

was eating too much sugar; that he had to take a week

to correct that in order to be able to offer advice

with integrity. [Details are all just from memory; I

can't even remember where I first heard this

anecdote.]

Also, in my facilitating various courses, the

materials called on me to give personal examples of

necessary inner changes made in order to illustrate

how I can achieve lowered stress, increased integrity,

inner peace. I have worked to develop my awareness of

when such changes are necessary, being surprised,

effecting a readjustment, and discovering how pleasing

it is to have arrived at a better place.

One such case (rather simple and naive) involved my

angry judgment at people who left shopping carts as

mavericks in the parking lot, rather than returning

them to the cart corrals. I went through all the

accusatory invectives that described these lazy,

thoughtless sub-humans who not only couldn't walk a

few steps to the corrals, but also had left their cart

in the middle of the parking space I had selected,

causing me all sorts of untoward extra effort.

ARRRRGH!

Recognizing this for what it was - projection, pure

and simple - surprised and shocked me! Who was I to

judge people when I had no idea what caused them to

vacate a cart? Perhaps the person was a single parent

with three toddlers in tow. Perhaps a person who had

some real malady, who needed to leave it in order to

get out of the blazing sun. Or...perhaps a person who

was simply lazy and thoughtless. Nor could I leave

myself out of this mix: perhaps I was a person with a

compulsion to make quick, summary judgment of others!

So readjustment was called for. Once I saw the truth

of myself, and accepted it without self-incrimination

and condemnation (simply a symptom of an inner need),

it was quite easy to come up with thought/behavior

options.

First, I made the decision to manage my thoughts so I

would recognize the moment this judging routine began.

I would intervene instantly to readjust my thoughts

to include more global, accepting explanations. And I

could intercept the self-incriminating voice.

After I practiced that for a surprisingly few number

of times, I was free to explore further readjustment.

I decided to encompass the individual in an empathic

embrace, no matter what their circumstances...and I

began taking the cart back into the store, using it as

my own.

Now I am surprised and pleased, noting how my creative

abilities has been used; noting the positive energy

released within, which then spreads to points all

around and beyond; and noting that humility had

increased by an iota. (My lack of humility is nothing

to brag about!)

BTW, I fart when I walk, and let others follow their

noses to new understandings!

DaleSings

drsparlin@...

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Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005

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[Guest guest]

zen antidote!

On values: a Zen poem

I once knew

a very wise and venerable

old master

who farted when he walked -

the first time (like you!)

I was surprised and shocked -

the second time

I was surprised and readjusted

my sense of values -

the third time

I was surprised and pleased

that my sense of values

could be readjusted

perhaps, now that I am old

and have learned greater humility

I myself will fart

when I walk

and thus instruct others

on a method

of teaching.

a.o.howell

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in case a laugh wld be helpful1

love

ao

N: Laughter always appreciated. At least the 'laugh with' variety. I

wonder how many one may expected to 'readjust their values'. It's a very

pleasant idea at any rate.

Blessings,

" Our highest duty as human beings is to search out a means whereby beings

may be freed from all kinds of unsatisfactory experience and suffering. "

H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th. Dalai Lama