As you know, I recently moved back to New Zealand. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind. We sold our house, I moved and brought the pets with me (in and of itself a process with many steps and paperwork.) Amidst all of it, I’ve treasured the feeling of peace that I’ve been able to return to again and again. I’m grateful for the practice that I’ve been a part of at the dojo for more than 12 years, teaching me to find peace again and again.
The focus on meditation as part of our practice was unexpected when I first joined the dojo, but it has become the most treasured part of my practice. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still really terrible at it. Some days I forget to turn off my thoughts at the beginning of my meditation and kind of only remember I was supposed to be meditating when I get to the end of my “meditation”. Even on the days my meditation ends up being shorter, or in practice shorter because I spent most of the time thinking, I gain benefit from meditating.
I do try to “lock it down” as Ms Donahue (Sifu Brown’s long term staff member) says. Which means, as you sit down, you put yourself into as deep a meditation as soon as you can. When you do that, the thinking is less, and the bothersome aches or pains or imaginary itches don’t infringe on your serenity.
I’m reminded of the story Sifu tells that he heard from Sifu Brown.
The Young Monk and the Abbot
There was a young monk that went to see his abbot, telling him he was struggling to find a good place to meditate. Wherever he tried to meditate, there was always something that interrupted his meditation, the sound of someone else moving, a bird call, his stomach rumbling. His abbot told him to be ready to go on a walk the next day as he knew an excellent place to meditate. The young monk was very excited and was ready early the next day.
The Perfect Place to Meditate
They started out on their walk going up the mountain from the monastery, the young monk thinking that they must be going to a beautiful place in nature to meditate. He imagined sitting by a babbling brook, the soft sounds of the water blocking out any other sounds and having a lovely meditation. He imagined sitting in a mountain meadow with the sounds of insects buzzing, leading to a deep contentment during his meditation.
Expectations
The abbot and the monk continued to walk, and they walked past a softly babbling brook, they walked past a peaceful mountain meadow. The young monk marveled at walking past these places that seemed like they would be perfect to meditate and imagined that the place they were going to must be so amazing to have already been what surely must have been great meditation spots. They walked over and down the other side of the mountain and into the village in the valley. The young monk expected they would walk through across to the other side of the valley as he could see some nice forest up that hillside.
Acknowledging Reality
They entered the village and the abbot took them through the streets right into the center of the village to the market square. There were people hawking their wares, chickens running underfoot and children playing games and running among the stalls. The abbot found the noisiest place in the market square, placed his sitting mat on the ground and put out his alms bowl and motioned for the young monk to sit beside him.
Real Life
I love this story because it points to embracing one’s reality rather than waiting for everything to be perfect. The story tells us that sometimes, doing what you know to do, regardless of the external circumstances, is the best thing to do. Learning to maintain a sense of being grounded and being in the present regardless of the things going on is one of the greatest gifts being part of the community at the dojo has given me.
And that’s the trick. To find peace and serenity amidst the chaos.
