- When I couldn't sleep because I was so stressed about buying a home that seemed too expensive...
- When the stickiest karma I have comes around again to try to destroy me...
- When I'm having a great day, and not a care in the world...
- When the busy schedule lifts, and I have more time to breathe and sit...
The savior is there for me. The savior, of course, is my recorder. It's always there, it's always available. I record as soon as I am free in the morning, after I wake up. It's a great habit that grounds me wherever I am, and whatever I'm “doing.” And I usually do reflective listening with “myself” when I'm recording. The back-and-forth allows me to feel heard and understood, and it gives me a distance from whatever nonsense is running through conditioned mind.
We talk endlessly in Practice about the love of the Mentor, expressed through the recorder. Here's why:
- The Mentor never talks back.
- The Mentor is not judgmental.
- The Mentor always has time for me.
- The Mentor wants nothing more than my wellbeing, my peace, and my joy.
- The Mentor wants the best for me.
- The Mentor knows that there is One Precious Human Being to Save -- me.
And when I am “saved,” I am freed up to be LIFE, in all of its many wondrous forms and manifestations. In other words, the Mentor helps me to be ME.
In closing: I saw this quote on a storage center in rural Pennsylvania: “The things that most people are praying for, are what you take for granted.” It hit me like a ton of bricks. What I am most grateful for is Zen Awareness Practice and Recording and Listening practice and the Sangha who practice together. I hope never to take any of it for granted.
Gasshō,
Michael