Everyday Boy

Teachers In Many Forms

In India, I was living in a little hut, about six feet by seven feet. It had a canvas flap instead of a door. I was sitting on my bed meditating, and a cat wandered in and plopped down on my lap. I took the cat and tossed it out the door. Ten seconds later it was back on my lap. We got into a sort of dance, this cat and I... I tossed it out because I was trying to meditate, to get enlightened. But the cat kept returning. I was getting more and more irritated,more and more annoyed with the persistence of the cat. Finally, after about a half-hour of this coming in and tossing out, I had to surrender. There was nothing else to do. There was no way to block off the door. I sat there, the cat came back in, and it got on my lap. But I did not do anything. I just let go. Thirty seconds later the cat got up and walked out. So you see, our teachers come in many forms.

- Joseph Goldstein
From Sunbeams in The Sun Magazine, February 2008

Wednesday Litany

Learn how to meditate on paper. Drawing and writing are forms of meditation.
Learn how to contemplate works of art.
Learn how to pray in the streets or in the country.
Know how to meditate not only when you have a book in your hand
But when you are waiting for a bus or riding in the train.
Above all, enter in to the liturgy and make the liturgical cycle part of your life -
Let it's rhythm work its way into your body and soul.

(137)

A Book Of Hours, Thomas Merton (edited by Kathleen Deignan)

Bicycling Meditations

You're riding along and you've hit that groove where you're not tired, not straining, just very comfortable, cruising along, and you forget that you're you, sitting there, cycling, because you are just perfectly in the moment of the wheel turning and the pedals making their circle.

You're riding along and you see something of the natural world - the sun coming up over the city skyline, a mountain newly dusted with snow, an eagle flying overhead - and you are so taken in that you forget you are the one who is cycling along, seeing these things. These things just are.

From The Bicycle Path of Blessing

Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snows in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits up. Deal with brute nature. Be cold and hungry and weary.

Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)

One of my resolutions at the beginning of the year was to dust of the ol' mountain bike and ride to work everyday.  It was for the usual reasons of excerise, saving some gas money, and of course being a bit more environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, the times I've ridden to and from work on my bicycle have been too far and in between since the beginning of the year.  The work weeks have felt long and fatiguing, and the half hour to forty minute commutes, with some gradual ascents both to and from work, have proven to be more of a challenge than I thought. I got back on the saddle again this week though, only to be welcomed with some some sporadic snowfalls, making me cold and hungry and weary at the end of the day. Of course I think I may have gotten a little soft since moving from the wintry conditions of Calgary, so my apologies complaining here to those of you dealing with the real harsh winter weather.

This commuting resolution was serrindipitously encouraged by a friend who forwarded me a web page on bicycle meditations, which has proven to be very difficult to practice as I huff and puff my way to and from work.  Right now I'm just focusing on being fit enough to breathe normally once I reach the top of some hills. On the other hand, I noticed that the bicycle courier of old in me has the inclination to cycle home as quickly as possible, with nary a glance at the world passing around me, unless it's a chance to catch my breath. So I'm learning again how to enjoy the commute, take in the trees, sky and people I pass by, and try and say namste. Last month I remember cycling down South East Marine Drive one deep blue sky morning and seeing eagles circling high above their tree top nests, so I do sometimes remember to slow down and take in the beauty along the way... like this locked up bicycle on my route, slowly rusting up in the rain:

As for the breathing excercises, I find that you can of course do them even while driving, sitting or walking - not just cycling. I find that driving around in traffic or waiting in line-ups at the grocery store provide unique glimspes of where you're at emotionally, mentally and physically. Why am I so annoyed by someone cutting me off? Why can't I wait in line in peace? Why am I so anxious? Which leads me to this other piece of writing about angry motorists who flip you the bird, which I found quite quite amusing:

...when the motorist honks his horn, raises the single digit, and makes his sincere invocation, you have but one response: to smile, to wave, and return to the joy of riding your bike.