Good evening everyone!
Hope the day has found you well.
I wanted to clarify something about myself in case I did not make it abundantly clear: I am far from a master of peace and calm.
A great Zen practitioner once said:
Develop the mind of equilibrium.
You will always be getting praise and blame,
but do not let either affect the poise of the mind:
follow the calmness, the absence of pride.
(For the source of this and other great Zen quotes to contemplate, please check out: http://viewonbuddhism.org/resources/buddhist_quotes.html)
As I walked out of my apartment this morning, I was ready to embrace the day after I had a great yoga practice last night (see my link below if you are looking for a great Yoga DVD- You do NOT need a full studio to practice yoga). I woke up this morning, meditated, threw on my suit, and was ready to face a 10 hour day filled with billing hours, yet giving no negative thought of what lay ahead of me-only being content with where I was at that particular moment, only being there. Then, it all came crashing down. A parking ticket, singlehandedly threw off all of the Namaste I had in me. This, for quite a large portion of the day, frustrated me. I thought I had progressed, grown,and transcended allowing such minor issues to bother me. This, I think, can be a commonplace human reaction. Often, we come to believe that we should possess the "mind of equilibrium" since we practice and embrace yoga and zen principles and when we do not, we become frustrated with ourselves. But really, the answer to this dilemma lies not far from the definition of what yoga is.
Yoga is a practice. Practice has two acceptable definition which are applicable here: 1) repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency and 2) the condition arrived at by experience or exercise.
Yoga, the like practice of law, is a constant growing process. There is no final end and perhaps there are "experts", but even they make mistakes and continue to learn all the time. That, I assume, is the lesson that the universe reminded me of today. And for that I am grateful because its a yoga lesson, and a law lesson, all rolled into one.
So I ask you to be a little more gentle with yourself and when you make mistakes, accept them because they will occur. Have your goal be equanimity, but when you fall along the way, just know, that we are all failing at some points too.
With that, I close this post and wish you well in both your yoga and your law practice.
Have a great weekend. Monday (and all that law) is so far away, and there is so much to be had right now.
Namaste everyone!
******
Perfect Opportunity to discuss what will likely be a more full post later, but one of my favorite Yoga DVDs that I highly recommend if you are seeking both the mental and physical benefits of yoga, Power Yoga with Bryan Kest (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001WTWYC/ref=asc_df_B0001WTWYC1814514?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395093&creativeASIN=B0001WTWYC. Check it out! For $15.00 you will have a great DVD set to last for quite some time).
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