Day 348 of 365 - Wherever You Are
In a little video teaching by Pema Chödrön, a statement she made caught my attention. It was something to the effect of 'wherever you are, that's your path'. What she meant was, that our practice of mindfulness, or whatever quality we are pursuing, can occur in our everyday life, no matter what we are facing. It's kind of another take on the 'wherever you go, there you are' statement, and a call to use our life circumstances, as they currently exist for our growth.
It's nicer to imagine that if I can just get away from whatever I perceive as my biggest obstacles in life, then I can achieve what I think I'm looking for. Instead, Buddhist and other teachers advise that we practice qualities such as generosity, virtue, patience and joyful endeavor in whatever arises on our path of life.
It certainly can help to develop our discipline for this by studying, going on retreats and meeting with like minded people. Ultimately though, we want to see how our outer actions transform us on an inner level. What habitual patterns are we able to shift? How do we decrease suffering in ourselves and others?
When I see videos of Pema Chödrön, I am attracted to her serenity and her sense of humor. She is joyful, curious and enthusiastic about life. I want me more of that! Of course, she has had many years of disciplined practice of meditation and all the other qualities. But, one of the things she always says is to ask ourselves how we can stretch wherever we are. There is stretching on an inner level with meditation and on an outer level with how we relate to our body, to others and the world.
Then, I saw another video, about a man's healing journey. To summarize, after years of struggling with a succession of increasingly more dire physical ailments, despite the external appearance of 'success', he found that meditation and body-mind movement practices were what was needed for him to open his energy, release blockages and create shifts. Along the way, he found that he needed to let go of aspects of his former life, including his successful career, to be able to create the necessary space for transformation. His illness had been the first catalyst in that process.
This is a man who was hard working and always striving to be better. He took this attitude when he first embraced spiritual and energetic practices too. Each thing he tried made his life less stressful and somewhat improved how he felt, but his focus on self improvement and striving still left him feeling like something was missing. What ultimately worked for him was seeking support to learn and expand on body practices (in his case qigong) to release the emotional blockages held in his body and to get to core issues. He is healthy today and continues these practices daily, along with coaching others in them.
What struck me from this man's story is, that I can relate to the tendency to strive for self-improvement, looking for the next thing that's going to open that door of clarity for me. Although I have gone on different kinds of retreats in the past, I have mostly relied in the last decade or more on independent learning which gives me more of a sense of control. To give myself some credit though, I have also resourced more physical self-care approaches which involve attending regular classes or receiving treatments. However, perhaps these stories are nudging me to step out of my comfort zone again. Although I have followed inner urges in the past, such as leaving my long time career at the age of 50, perhaps I've just been hesitantly pushing the envelope of my experience since. It might just be time to consider where to stretch next.
It does not have to be some radical life change, but rather, having the courage to challenge myself and stretch a little more in whatever my daily life brings to me.
It certainly can help to develop our discipline for this by studying, going on retreats and meeting with like minded people. Ultimately though, we want to see how our outer actions transform us on an inner level. What habitual patterns are we able to shift? How do we decrease suffering in ourselves and others?
When I see videos of Pema Chödrön, I am attracted to her serenity and her sense of humor. She is joyful, curious and enthusiastic about life. I want me more of that! Of course, she has had many years of disciplined practice of meditation and all the other qualities. But, one of the things she always says is to ask ourselves how we can stretch wherever we are. There is stretching on an inner level with meditation and on an outer level with how we relate to our body, to others and the world.
Then, I saw another video, about a man's healing journey. To summarize, after years of struggling with a succession of increasingly more dire physical ailments, despite the external appearance of 'success', he found that meditation and body-mind movement practices were what was needed for him to open his energy, release blockages and create shifts. Along the way, he found that he needed to let go of aspects of his former life, including his successful career, to be able to create the necessary space for transformation. His illness had been the first catalyst in that process.
This is a man who was hard working and always striving to be better. He took this attitude when he first embraced spiritual and energetic practices too. Each thing he tried made his life less stressful and somewhat improved how he felt, but his focus on self improvement and striving still left him feeling like something was missing. What ultimately worked for him was seeking support to learn and expand on body practices (in his case qigong) to release the emotional blockages held in his body and to get to core issues. He is healthy today and continues these practices daily, along with coaching others in them.
What struck me from this man's story is, that I can relate to the tendency to strive for self-improvement, looking for the next thing that's going to open that door of clarity for me. Although I have gone on different kinds of retreats in the past, I have mostly relied in the last decade or more on independent learning which gives me more of a sense of control. To give myself some credit though, I have also resourced more physical self-care approaches which involve attending regular classes or receiving treatments. However, perhaps these stories are nudging me to step out of my comfort zone again. Although I have followed inner urges in the past, such as leaving my long time career at the age of 50, perhaps I've just been hesitantly pushing the envelope of my experience since. It might just be time to consider where to stretch next.
It does not have to be some radical life change, but rather, having the courage to challenge myself and stretch a little more in whatever my daily life brings to me.
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