Practicing Everywhere

Life has meaning only in the struggles,

Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the Gods.

So let us celebrate the struggles.

                        -Swahili warrior song

 

            It’s easy to practice “on the cushion,” in church, or when we pray.  We’ve set time aside to be present and to celebrate our relationship with spirit in our own personal and unique ways.  But practicing in real life is always the challenge.  To practice within the ordinary, everyday circumstances, pleasant and unpleasant, easy and difficult is what we are really called to do.  Let me share how I find myself practicing everywhere…

 

            I love mornings!  And I admit that I love just about everything about them.  I express gratitude as I wake up and find my husband next to me, and think what a miracle it is that we are together 32 years.  When it’s time for breakfast, I enjoy mouthfuls of my favorite cereal with soy milk, and am very aware of how attached I am to eating this breakfast; just noticing my attachment is everyday practice.  I also appreciate the textures, flavors and healthiness of what I’m eating, and enormous gratitude that I have food on our table, and sadness as I think of those who are hungry with little or nothing to eat.  This moment of awareness calls me to hold both gratitude and sadness and let the emotions traverse through my consciousness.  Jerry and I often look across the table at each other and give thanks that we have this life to share, of its great beauty and gifts.  These experiences and expressions are ways of inviting spirit into our gratitude and joy for being alive, well and together.

 

            When I am home, I often look over the pond and experience the wonder of wildlife:  the many different birds with different behavior patterns, coloring, shapes and sizes.  I am constantly amazed at how they all have what they need—sturdy legs for wading, long beaks for fishing, quick reactions that allow them to dive for fish.  The other day I watched a tri-colored heron wading near the opposite bank; I became anxious as I watched it approach a still and silent alligator facing the water, directly in its path on the bank.  As I studied them both through my binoculars, I feared that this would be a lesson on the predatory nature of reptiles and their dinners.  Imagine my surprise when, three feet before the heron reached the alligator, the bird went up on the bank, circled around the back of the alligator, and came back into the water three feet on the other side of the ‘gator’s body!  I’ve seen this happen more than once, and it always astounds me.  I am awed at the dance between these two creatures, and the miracle that has put them on this earth.

 

            Driving in Florida is a wonderful place to practice!  I’m not sure if the laws are different here, or if Floridians don’t observe the same driving practices as Californians.  I love riding with Jerry and watching him mirror my own reactions to drivers who don’t meet his expectations.  He believes that on a two-lane road, the left lane is for faster drivers; if you plan to drive the speed limit or less, you should move to the right!  My practice allows me to notice how insistent we are about how people drive, how frustrated we get when they “refuse” to follow our expectations, and how we speculate on all the reasons people are driving slowly in the left lane:  maybe they’re unconscious (my personal favorite); maybe they don’t know the rules; maybe they are inconsiderate and don’t care about others’ needs and expectations.  The list is endless.  Practicing with these thoughts rushing through my mind, I realize that all these “reasons” are just my own projections onto these drivers, and within my frustration, I’m also laughing at myself (and sometimes get Jerry to laugh, too) for the way our minds go wild when we don’t get what we want.

 

            As we say in Zen, “it’s all dharma.”  Life gives us opportunities to practice, moment after moment after moment.  Whether we are happy or sad, satisfied or frustrated, we can use all of our experiences to open to our lives and spirit.  In my life, those opportunities are too precious to let them slip by.