Meditation for February 6th
Spiritual Greatness
As we grow in our spiritual practices, it’s easy to feel awkward around people who don’t practice spirituality. They are so cynical and always trying to point out the reality of the situation rather than loving with an open heart. When we are present, we can see when others are not. We try to share our gifts with others, but they won’t listen with a loving ear.
As spiritual beings, shedding our material needs, we see the dark side of life much more clearly. We see people who want to wander through the dark, dank tunnels of an unenlightened life. They would rather be angrily alone than blissfully happy on a yoga mat. These people hate the past and fear the future, and can’t live in the moment without distraction. If one is enlightened, one can be present in the present.
We reach a stage in our transcendent growth where we literally walk around spiritually euphoric all the time. People pay to smoke rocks to feel the high we do in our practices. We are just blissed out in our minds with no mind on the silly physical world that most people sweat and toil in, wondering if there is a better way. We are walking on moonbeams and rainbows while the normal person thinks it’s just being born, working, and then dying.
We sometimes will feel isolated from the rest of the common people because of our divine greatness. We have achieved enlightenment, self-knowledge, and the wisdom of the ancients that guide us in our earthly endeavors. It’s hard to relate to reality shows, the news, politics, race and gender equality, or Kenny Lamar dropping an unnamed album suddenly. We want to talk about much deeper subjects like meditation, yoga, Buddhism, Zen gardening, the different tones of bells, and how much of an experience we had eating a kale salad with gluten-free croutons and a vegan Caesar dressing.
We must not let being better tuned than our fellow man hinder us from our chosen path. It is a monk’s journey, and we must remember that it is bearing our souls to the gods.
Cherry blossoms falling slowly down to the ground,
water dribbling over rocks,
birds chirping over the drone of crickets,
moss,
We are made of stars,
other spiritual stuff.
You probably won’t get it.
Prayer
Ohm and namastez,
I am here at this party,
and I keep trying to get to know people,
and I mean really get to know,
And people seem so afraid of me.
I would bring my hands up to a prayer form while doing a polite, slight bow when getting to know someone new,
I would slightly tilt my head to the side and nod a lot when listening,
I would place my hand somewhere on their body so that they know I’m being sincere when I tell them what philosophical solution I may have for their work life.
Ayurveda or herbal remedies for health difficulties,
yoga for body issues and fat people,
diets for everyone because people eat things that our bodies want to reject,
and breathing exercises for stress, anxiety, and depression.
They seem not to be receptive to my wisdom,
my many years of practice,
my tight yoga pants,
My bun held up by chopsticks,
my natural body odor,
or my closed-eyed blissful smile.
Now I’m sitting by myself in a lotus position, eyes closed and humming to myself, and nobody seems interested to learn about what I’m all about.
I want to be interesting,
and maybe a teacher.
Gilbert Gottfried
I’m by the water cooler at work,
And everyone is talking about this Netflix show everyone is watching.
Everyone knows all the characters and plot twists,
But I haven’t seen the show,
not read the comic book,
So I smile and nod.
I guess the new episode was last night.
Every day at this water cooler, these people talk about the TV shows they watch.
Last night they watched this show that seems to include zombies,
which seems a little far-fetched.
I spent yesterday getting up at 6 am,
eating a hard-boiled egg, grapefruit, and green tea,
Then running up to the top of a hill, where I sat cross-legged writing my day’s goals while watching the sun rise, and then ran back home.
I always take a bath on Sundays,
lit candles and listened to throat chanting.
Then I raked my rock garden,
making sure to bliss out on making the ripples around the Japanese maple flow
-like really flow, man.
Then I sat at a coffee shop sipping a decaf soy dry cappuccino while trying to finish this Eckert Tolle book,
but spent most of it scrolling the Fbooks,
I tried to get into a conversation with a lady about whether it’s okay to eat cold-water fish if we are following a strict Sattvic diet,
Or can we only enjoy warm water fish because India is, like, hot all the time?
But she got really annoyed with me because I kept coming up with new arguments against cold fish being okay.
She finally grabbed her yoga mat and left in a huff,
So I took a walk and remembered that I needed to be compassionate,
So I went and bought a green juice from the friendly grocery store.
I went to a lecture at the Buddhist meditation temple on combining astrology with transcendental meditation.
I had too much tea,
So I had to leave during the speech,
which meant stepping over people who were cross-legged on the floor,
and knocked over many non-BPA water bottles,
I then went to the vegan Thai cafe to eat a much-deserved vegan dinner.
I went to my CODA meeting
and then went to Whole Foods to buy some medicine,
and then went home and listened to whale sounds till I fell asleep,
So I don’t know when I would have had time to watch this show,
and when I tried to tell my coworkers what I did.
Not one cared.
In fact, they seemed almost annoyed.
They also said that the Chinese herb tea I’m drinking to help with my poor digestion stinks like mayonnaise pig shit in a brick oven.
Amen.
Craft
To get in touch with your basic needs, quit your job, move out of your house, get rid of all of your belongings, and live as a bum. Sit on a corner and spare change. See how people react to you as your hair gets nasty and you start to smell. Who looks at you with love and compassion, and who ignores you, blind to the suffering of the poor, and who hates you. As the months go by, remember all you once had. Remember the toilet paper? The mat by the toilet that kept your feet warm in the middle of the night when you were sitting and looking at OKCupid profiles? The heaters that blew dusty, stale hot air? These are all things you gave up for a life of poverty.
When you return to your life of means, what will you do differently?
Nothing. People ignore other people’s struggles and forget their own unless it is convenient to do so.
Goal
Just be okay with being better than others. You have worked hard to know the truth: this world is a mere illusion, and you are one with the force of karma. Lead by example and hope that your old college buddies wake up from their ignorant slumbers to join you as you sit under a mango tree blissfully stupid. Tell them to sell the house, the cars, the kids, and the wife, and join you on your path up the mountain to become the old man with the wisdom.