Recently, a friend asked me what spirituality meant to me. I shared with her a little story and I decided I would share it with you all as well.The other night, tired after a long day at work and at my studio, I crawled back home and realized I had to make food for the next few days. With my chaotic schedule, I have to pack breakfast, lunch AND dinner for the next day. I really hate eating packaged or canned stuff and there’s only so much you can eat out before your body feels heavy with salt and fat (not to mention wreck my wallet!) so I’ve made it a goal to come home and cook enough to last a few days.
Anyway, I enjoy cooking to the voice of a Buddhist dharma talk and on this particular night I decided to listen to Jack Kornfield. Jack Kornfield is a Buddhist meditation teacher based in California. In the podcast I selected he discussed death, uncertainly, and how we ultimately don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. No matter how we try to control it, life is completely unpredictable.
Well that’s not new news to me (and hopefully not to you!). As I blogged about in the past, I have occasionally been haunted with this idea that I do not have time to dilly dally. If I want to make my dreams come true, every moment counts. Carpe diem right?
Well, not exactly. You see, when Kornfield spoke about death and making the most of every moment, he was not speaking of personal achievements. He was not insinuating that because we live a short, unpredictable life we have to achieve as much as possible NOW. The mentality he is suggesting we live by is not “well since I don’t know when I am going to die, I might as well exploit my life and my resources as much as possible”.
Rather, he’s saying that since we are unclear of the future, the only thing we can possibly do in life in order to die fulfilled (no matter when we die), is to love others fully. Not expecting people or situations to be anything but what it is. Being open to all of it, the good and the bad, and holding a heart of compassion no matter how challenging. He continues his lecture by urging his listeners to contemplate – when you quiet and center yourself; connecting with the deep sense of fulfillment you only feel when you are present, the question then becomes what are you going to DO with this? This big heart of yours, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO LIVE?
When I heard his words I instantly thought – I want to touch others. I want to make the people around me happy. I have a long way to go but I do not want my life to be simply about ME ME ME. I want to continue to work on loving myself in order to spread compassion to others.
Yes its important to lead a life that you want. I am not saying to neglect personal goals nor am I suggesting I am going to give up my aspirations. What I AM saying is that at that very moment that night, I fully understood how trivial our life is. How ultimately it does not matter how much we make, the medals we collect, the asanas we achieve, etc. What matters is how we love. And THAT is why I practice yoga. THAT is why I meditate.
It’s important to reconnect to our deep wisdom and know that the path of a warrior is one of love. It’s only by loving that we fundamentally change this world.
So to answer my friend’s question I said ~ to learn how to love in all circumstances is what spirituality means to me. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Namaste.
January 31st, 2012 at 5:39 pm
"What matters is how we love"- love it!
January 31st, 2012 at 6:41 pm
"It's only by loving that we fundamentally change this world." That's exactly what stood out for me – such a simple statement that we over complicate at times! I love this!
January 31st, 2012 at 6:47 pm
I love this thank you Teeg, completely filled me with warmth after reading this I need to learn how to love completely so thank you x
January 31st, 2012 at 8:00 pm
Love this post xxxKiki Yogini http://www.kikiandlalainwonderland.blogspot.com
February 2nd, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Indeed :o) Om Shanti!