“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
The game is the same; the player has changed.”
— Zen Proverb
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I’ve been on LinkedIn for a few months, and boy, there are a few meditation and mindfulness teachers out there. A crowded ‘market’.
Now, any place to start is a great place to start.
Someone was recently apologising to me for feeling like she needed a guided meditation.
Nah, that’s great, I said.
As long as it’s simple and you’re doing it consistently? That’s all that really counts.
So many people say they want peace and presence, yet they hope for the best rather than actually doing something.
Doing something, anything? I applaud you. You’re not leaving your life to chance.
You’re setting out to regain control of your own ship from the mad monkey …
Actually, it’s more like a puppy. Sometimes cute, sometimes cuddly, but often an agent of chaos.
It’s the Puppy Paradox.
You are not the puppy; why are you letting it drive? Because everyone else is?
No more.
Like anything, right? Training wheels first.
But any place to start doesn’t mean all meditation techniques have the same end result. They’re not created equal.
Remember –
The Tibetan word for meditation is something like “familiarisation.”
You’re becoming familiar with the tricks of the puppy to keep you looping…
But you’re also becoming familiar with who you really are.
Beyond your mind and feelings, your story, your past, and hopes and fears,
Who you are is unbroken, complete, constant and always.
It’s always been here, within. You’ve just forgotten it even exists.
The potential of a good tool and the right guidance is that you find your way back home – you get so familiar you never leave it.
That’s what’s missing in the message around meditation.
Even some of my students still have this cultural conditioning: ‘I can’t be enlightened and take care of business.’
Yet as we talked about last week, you embark on the inner work and the life end of things comes so much easier –
And free of the unnecessary cost that so many think they have to pay.
Stress and struggle isn’t a necessary part of being human! Tattoo that on your eyelids.
Start where you can with this inner journey.
But don’t sell yourself short.
You are not the puppy.
You are the Mother of Puppers. The Dog Father.
When you embark on remembering who you really are, life makes a whole lot more sense.
You remember how to play the game of life and not get so lost in it that you're at its mercy.
As Uncle Alan (Watts) once wrote, we only suffer because we take seriously what the gods made for fun.
Just cos everyone else isn’t telling you this, doesn’t make it true.
Go well!
Arjuna
PS.
“'Advanced' meditation tools" don’t mean more complicated.
It actually means simple, effortless, enjoyable AND full spectrum powerful (not just surface level).
With all the support you want and need to make it a habit when you’re out there in the game of life,
It couldn’t be more straightforward.
Join us:
17-19 April, (7pm start)
Always free to repeat (come and plug back in – be awesome to see you again!).