Turn off the Remote

It is essential at the beginning of practice to acknowledge that the path is personal and intimate. It is no good to examine it from a distance as if it were someone else’s. You must walk it for yourself. Robert Aitken Roshi

Much of my adult life has been looking from afar.  I wake up every morning to the Thai man living next door coughing.  He is coughing because he is smoking.  I light the tea candle in my aroma burner and roll over.  Doesn’t he hear the coughing.  Can he not notice that he only coughs when he smokes?   What is wrong with this picture?

My two Minnesota drinking buddies put away a great deal of beer a day.  Yesterday, there was only one drinking.   What happened to Gary?  He had 17 stitches put into his head the night before because they each drank 11 bottles of 16 oz. of Leo and when Gary walked outside, he fell face first on the street without even attempting to stop his fall.   Can they not notice they are alcoholics?  What is wrong with this picture?

I am tempted to examine my life the day after.  What did I do and why did I do that and what an idiot or how good or whatever.  By relying on the review, I put off being mindful, alert and awake.  It also gives me a good excuse to beat me up or puff me up.   I like, Roshi said above, watch me from a distance.

The more I am connected to my now, the less I leave my kickstand down as I start to drive away.   If you leave the stand down and are travelling down the highway and lean to that side, you will take a very bad fall.  Not a good thing and a very bad thing will happen to you and the bike and your body.  Without the alcohol, I could also end up with stitches and then depressed which will lead to a cold and a cough.

By being present, aware and awake, I go to bed with no review, recrimination, or regret. 

At the end of the day, I may see something I missed at the time, but like the cataract surgery, with practice, the cloud lifts and I see clearer every day.