May 17, 2005
-
perspectives
lionne has a great post with a link to:
Thich Nhat Hanh’s
The Sutra on the Eight Realizations of the Great Beings
…here ..
Thich~
“THE FOURTH REALIZATION is the awareness that laziness is the cause of all setbacks. For this reason, we must practice diligently- destroying the unwholesome mental factors, which bind us, conquering the four kinds of Mara, (3) and freeing ourselves from the prisons of the five aggregates and the three worlds. (4)..
I have no idea what the four kinds of mara are and all the rest but I can very much relate that:
”laziness is the cause of all setbacks.”
Bare with me as I attempt to translate Thich into Tolle and Dos?
“Awareness that laziness is the cause of all setbacks. For this reason, we must practice diligently- destroying the unwholesome mental factors, which bind us…
Well what exactly is
Laziness?..
Personal Control drama #7 ~ put it off for the future.
Let me assure you I am an expert witness when it comes to describing laziness and procrastination,
I do it all the ~time.
Unconsciousness stems from a core error
The denial of the now.
Laziness it is a denial of the present situation and the projection of that task into a problem to be solved in the future. I can use a situation that occurred to me only a moment ago as an example.
My gas tank was running very low and the amber light had just popped on, instead of filling it in right now as the universe clearly hinted to me, my ego said:
” Dude, you can fill it tomorrow,
on the way to school!
Go play on the Internet!
Haven’t you really been looking forward to it all day!
Well haven’t you?
Go on and play your deserve it!
?
?
And so I projected the task of filling my tank into the imaginary future.
The reality of the situation is that I could have, very easily run out of gas!
As I have played out this drama before
I can describe the results…
the scenario goes something like this
Sleeping delightfully … to the last possible second… I stumble into the shower and as the warm water hits my skin, I breath in the life giving ions, sucking them into me like a drug addict inhales cocaine… using the energy from the water I in slowly emerge to a state somewhat resembling wakefulness…
drag a comb across my head, strap on some handy clothes, grab a granola bar and hit the road running…. Man the gas tank! I have no time for this crap…O why, why, did I not fill it yesterday!
Spending precious Quan points on the luck, I overcome the causality and once more I coast into the sign of the double cross, just as the the final fumes of hydrocarbons are oxidized…
I pull in and pump …
tick tick tick the bottomless tank slowly fills
$$$$$ Oil… guilt …grrrrr..stand in line….
as the sand pours ever ….out of the glass
Now I am behind the curve…
LATE !
If I hit every light, perhaps
I can just make it.. On time
and so it builds … pressure …hurry….rush…
This “hurrying” a very unconscious, time-bound state.
It’s momentum can carry long into the day …as the day soon becomes long
the sense of sequential time …binding us to the illusion of time
distractive to “the Now” to say the least… and compounded by egoic recrimination and identification ..of should haves….
listen to it well:
you should have gone to bed earlier,
filled the tank yesterday, extras…
self judgments of the past taking me ever more deeply into the mind identified state.
I was missing the experience of ~Life
while buried deeply under the weight of my life situation..
I had no eyes to see the beautiful sunrise…
The vibrant colors emerging …
the light of ~creation itself
painting the deep night as a if
on a velvet canvas of darkness
brushed with silent radiance
bring into all being
In my rush, such miracles are of no significance,
The ego is the mastermind of this entire Machiavellian self-deception, and I often bite into it deeply.
But even the master control drama has it’s weakness
As with all control dramas, you are free of them the moment you acquire the perspective that can see them for what they are.
Just as the illusion of darkness vanishes in the light of consciousness
The ego loves to create problems and complexity so that its existence is justified…and its illusory sense of self strengthened. What the ego is seeking, it’s life blood, so to speak….
is attention
without ever having enough , It devours Yours
and will seek to drag in as many other egos as it can entertain.
The attention we give to “it” is precious,
Our essential life energy
by giving attention to the ego we pay the opportunity cost of not placing it in the Real Thing.. The present moment…
The price is our very life…
this lack of attention significantly reduces our perception of the Now .. to the point where we lose a sense of it altogether. The ego is now most happily in control.
how does this happen to us?….
You are not lazy!
are you?
the silent ageless
~One that sees…
all that is
is simply a happening
the voice in you your head
just another happening,
your ego
as you listen to it ”” feel it happening to you
and do not mistake it for who you really are..
I am..
the ~One listening
pure…
raw
Awareness
As Thich paints with simplicity:
“The Awareness of laziness”
I like the word “indolence.” It makes my laziness seem classy. ~Bern Williams
Tomorrow is the only day in the year that appeals to a lazy man. ~Jimmy Lyons
It’s true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure,
why take the chance?
~Ronald Reagan
The time will come when winter will ask you
what you were doing all summer.
~Henry Clay
Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday. ~Author Unknown
Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on
of an uncompleted task. ~William James
The sooner I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up.
~Author Unknown
If it weren’t for the last minute, I wouldn’t get anything done. ~Author Unknown
How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes,
packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners,
and instant cameras
teach patience to its young
?
Comments (14)
hey, thanks a lot for visiting my poetry site, and for your comment and interest, it means a lot coming from one as enlightened as you. Of course you may use the poem and photo in a post, as long as you keep the copyrights to me and the photographer, which I’m sure won’t be a problem. send me an email and I’ll email you the post so you can simply cut and paste it.
I liked your post, and so can I relate, that yes, this situation has happened to me on so many an occasion as I could scarcely count…. but if in this ‘laziness’ can some of us glean something deeper, or perhaps in our tardiness?
As we pack like lemmings into our shiny metal boxes and rush against each other, rushing away our time, rushing through our lives, not stopping to smell the coffee, not pulling to the side to watch the vibrant colors of the sunrise. I will take the toll and consequence of tardiness every day to stop and ‘smell the roses’, and especially now that I know just how precious these moments are, and to consequence be damned. If someone else be willing to take my place to rush the high blood pressure course of life, then so be it, for he is blind to the true magic of the little moments of the day, and it is he who truely does not live.
:sunny: i love the pictures they went great with your writings.
last week i was despirately trying to make it to arby’s (fast food junky here) and back on NO gas and in 30 minutes…. i hit every red light in town and managed to have to stop for two trains. now we only have one set of train tracks going through town so this happened coming and going. karma was at work… i totally relate. :fun:
i always get up an hour early before i have to for work … at least when i’m working 1st … it takes the hurry out of everything
That is a good way to illustrate laziness, and yet take it beyond that level. Though, it is something to think about what starts this whole morning routine in the first place. Our need to survive in this twisted universe – now that is truly something to look at.
oh Dos this is just a big bunch of ~ dirty laundry ~ thanx magi
laiziness is something stoppmortion that keep avoid from dangerous situation,I think../N *
i happen to be of the mind…
ok so yes, i have given this my mind at times through life and have done nothing short of come up withthe same thang-owithout naming or emabarassing, i do truly know i have seen one case of LAZY be misdiagnosed as dpression, ADD-um the list goes on and on-I would not drop EVERYONE in this category but i seen it with me eys-know it in me heart-I know this man who is L A Z Y-and if he’d get off his ass and move he’d see and if he didnt see it somehow he’d know….
so nah, he continues well more than half way through life-doctor and medication hopping-it’s kinda sad
p.s Ronald Readan also said “Ya seen one redwood, ya seen ‘em all” GRRRRR where is the emoticon with fangs…
Why am I awake?
YOGA
TIME
how did these days get so dang short?
:sunny:
Nice Post
Namaste
(-*-)
Wonderful post and oh so close to the heart. You make me remember why I will stop the traffic of the wendy’s drive thru to get out of my car and pick a lilac for me to enjoy the rest of the day. I got honked at, but there is nothing more worth waiting for.
:yes:
RYC: I am a bit confused by your message’s intention.
“you are asending while trapped with ~in your mind, pleasant voyage none the less!”
How can you make a judgment like this with enough information? How do you really know? I am really open to hearing why you feel or think this.
And I put the quote in my journal because like I said I liked his interpretation. And how do you know that I agree or disagree with his statement. Can’t a person disagree, yet still like and appreciate another’s words, being, point of view, etc?
I feel healing is important, but I also know not everyone needs it. I personally have certain intentions with my life so I have chosen this path, I have chosen to do the work. I am integrating, looking at my thoughts, assumptions, and removing the dirt so I can experience the now. But I’m not going to shut off these voices, I observe them. I refuse to judge them, condemn them, or belittle them. I have learned through my own experience, and once you accept what is, then I experience the dropping of the veil, the illusion and can see clearly. But it’s like the bible says, “The truth will set you free.” And maybe my WAY is not exactly your way, but it works for me. And I do not impose my way onto others, I feel like it is up to each and every individual to decide what is their WAY.
And sometimes I read your journal because it just such a different way of going about things/perspective. I value it, and see that there are different strokes for different folks.
I think I would just like to understand because I do not think your and my intentions are too far off, but I cannot say for sure because I have been wrong many-a-time in my life. Regardless, thank you for stopping by. :sunny:
Very well said. The beginning is the end of time, that was exactly what I was trying to say. Thanks!
Sometimes things are not a result of laziness at all~but of a deep and relentless melancholia~
Peace~
here I am, stuck in the middle…
MY little amber indicator lit up today on the way to the homestead from work,
this post gives me motivation to
WAKE UP
at least 45 mins. earlier so that I may
fill
my damned tank
:giggle: