Chillin’ at The Zendo, by Jennifer Warren

THE CHAKRAS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND

Hello everyone -welcome to the Zendo book club! (Just kidding, but hey- that gives me an idea for another blog )I just read a book by the great Buddhist author Jack Kornfield on the cycles of spiritual life. In it, he points out quite rightly that there are two kinds of life cycles the ones that are thrust upon us and the ones we choose. That leads me to wonder, my honeybuns, which of the two is the most painful, the most disappointing, the most full of dukkha? Let’s ponder that one for a bit ……………………………………………………………………….

And we’re back. Sometimes where we are in our sadhana (that’s yoga speak for “practice”), and it’s usually early on, there is a phase where we make up our minds that we are going to be a verrrry serious yogi, a serious Buddhist, a serious meditator, etc. In fact, some of us never seem to emerge from this phase. When such a practice becomes stale, as it often does, we hold on to the image of ourselves as a serious practitioner and sometimes even lord our self appointed status over others. We relish the idea that others are woefully lacking compared to us.

The serious practitioner’s routine might go a little like this: Get up at dark thirty. Do some yoga poses. Do some more yoga poses. Do some breathing exercises. Chant. Meditate. Fast on full moons. Repeat. It becomes habit, yes. And maybe we pick up momentum, kick it up into high gear. Then there’s that nagging feeling. And it dawns on us that we can’t tell whether we’re on a spiritual path or a hamster wheel. One by one, all our tricks cease to work The last stop on that bus route is to decide the practice is hooey, just a bunch of b.s. anyway. It culminates in one last victory for the ego, (which has been on this ride the whole time). We pat ourselves on the back for refusing to waste another precious moment of life doing any of it and pity others who do.

LAUGH AND THE BUDDHA LAUGHS WITH YOU

What is the antidote according to Jack Kornfield? Levity. Humor, especially when it comes to our own quirky personalities. So what if you’re too serious so focused on the details of your practice that you miss its most basic lessons. You’re like the pious monk in a Bruegel painting that doesn’t notice the guy picking his pocket. What’s funnier than that? Laughter is magical. Laughter is wonderful. Laughter is unique to man (don’t talk to me about hyenas, okay?). A moment of genuine laughter at oneself can be every bit as “spiritual” as hours of meditation, chanting or reading scripture or contemplating sutras.

Think you can make me laugh? Would love to hear your jokes and crazy stories. I wish you all a hearty belly laugh today from the Zendo until we meet again:-)

Jennifer Warren #WF1092
CIW WA 807 Up
16756 Chino Corona Rd
Corona, CA 92880