Its been a daily struggle to slow down lately. I found myself zipping into a Starbucks this morning nearly knocking over a good friend of mine. What's worse, I didn't even realize it was him and walked off only to be embarrassed a few second later as he stood laughing at me waiting for a greeting. Spaced out and detached, some days my ego doesn't even let me hang out with the rest of the human race. I'm missing out on a lot...plants, animals and all the rest of the great stuff in our universe are totally out of the question when my focus is a just sliver of presence spent meandering back in forth in my head between the past and future. It bugs me a lot, but beating myself up only makes it worse. The zen masters say you have to "watch the thinker" or step back and examine the ego playing its games. Somehow it always slides in through the back gate and starts commenting on the scene again. I can't escape! But knowing is half the battle right?
~mellow
2 comments:
Oh yes, watching the thinker...that has been one of the most extraordinary phenomenons I have been practicing. It takes so much consciousness and presence to be able to even acknowledge that piece so give yourself a pat on the back! It is definitely a process but like anything it's just practice.
I lent our copy of a new earth to Karen today. I hadn't taken a glimpse of that book in 2-3 years, so I was looking over a few things I had highlighted before handing it over. Some of the things I highlighted are really applicable to my life today- the complainer is always right and being right feeds the ego. I really need to start watching this at work- that place is a feeding ground for complaining! But it does nothing except reinforce the ego!
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