Deli Contingencies

In life, I like to give myself three chances. This is why, when I take a ticket for the line at the Deli, I take 3 tickets, just in case I miss my number, or someone double clicks to the next person, etc, etc. Today was the first time in - say - 20 years where this ridiculous strategy paid off. I am not sure how, but the fellas behind the counter skipped over my first two numbers. I don't even think they called them out. I sprang into action upon hearing my third number, mainly because I did not want to spend the next 20 years taking 4 tickets ;-)

TV Sloppiness

Like most people, I really appreciate good movies and TV series, moreso the latter. For example, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime. Season 1 was superb. Season 2 is also good, but it suffers from a bad case of implausible coincidences and outright omissions. One minute Jack is about to be executed by an assassin, the next, the woman that was shot in the foot by said assassin and left incapacitated 100+ KM away shoots him in the back of the head. One scene, Jack gets stabbed in the arm, the next he is wearing short sleeves and wringing his hands without so much as a band-aid. The story line is still excellent, but these little things add up to make the show feel unbuttoned. It is like going to see Tosca at the Met and noticing that Mario Cavaradossi is wearing high top Converse sneakers. If the objective is to create an alternate reality for the viewer to immerse themselves within, then the craft must be at a higher level.

The Daily Pattern

Every morning when I wake up, my first thought is ending the day, which consists of the sequence of steps that match the pattern I want for myself on a daily basis. I start each step with an eye towards the next one, but no further. It is a very simple plan: coffee > gym > ready > eat > work > study > home > family > bed :-) Breakfast is my one and only meal on most days, so I don't have to deal with the logistics of lunch or dinner, nor do I have to effect any will power for said meals, nor do I have to kill myself in the gym to manage my weight. This particular plan is not for everyone, but the strategy of defining the lifecycle of a day and targeting it as a pattern to live by can, I think, work for everyone, whatever the pattern. Further, taking the guess work out of every day living leaves more room to be creative, because it conserves energy that might otherwise be spent on deciding between a salad or an entire bag of dark chocolate Hershey's kisses for lunch (wink).

The Visitor

This morning Val came downstairs and asked me to peer out into the soccer field behind our house to see if I could recognize something about 50 yards beyond our fence. It looked like a grey, medium sized animal, like a badger. It had a bit of a round, lopsided look, so I revised my guess to an armadillo, who, having been abducted from his native Southwestern home, and having regained conscious in the middle of a field in New Jersey, endeavored to curl up in a ball and wait it out. However, the stillness of this mysterious figure struck me as being more plant than animal. I settled on a fungus instead, and wondered out loud if it might be a large mushroom - perhaps, the largest one on record in New Jersey - that sprang up amidst all of this rain. Neither my long distance glasses nor the zoom function on either of our phones was enough to resolve this mystery, so we put on our sneakers and cautiously trekked out to it, with Maggie barking from the patio in protest. It did not move as we drew closer. We slowed our pace to give it a chance to react while there was still some distance between us. When we were very close to being on top of it, we paused. The grey sky grew still. The birds grew quiet. Our senses sharpened, like our ancestors on the African plains.  It was an old, discolored and partially deflated basketball :-)

What Does True Transformation Look Like?

What does transformation look like? Nothing. That's what. I see people posting pictures of themselves or others in bathing suites or bikinis as proof of transformation. I see people posting updates on their financial success or the financial success of their cohorts as proof of breaking the chains of their former lives. I propose that this is just trading in one illusion for another, one set of chains for another. Of course, I can't offer any advice on true transformation, because I really don't know, but that is the point ;-)

Pious Possessions

There was a great and noble King that ruled over what used to be 8 separate kingdoms. His armies defeated lesser Kings, and, upon finding themselves part of his kingdom, his new subjects rejoiced in his ability to govern with fairness and efficiency. One day an enlightened monk who wondered through the kingdom wearing only rags and carrying only his rice bowl arrived at the entrance of the castle and asked for an audience with the King. There was a festival that day, and everyone was celebrating in a field a short distance away. The King said to the monk, "leave your bowl here, let us walk to the festival, and after we talk, I will fill your bowl with rice and give you a place to sleep for the night." As they walked, the monk began to recite his tried and true message: "You are successful and happy, and you bring success and happiness to others, but you still do not know your true self, and, therefore, have not achieved true happiness, nor been able to bestow this on your people. So long as you cling to your worldly possessions and concepts, you trap yourself in karmic sorrow, and you trap your people in karmic sorrow. I ask that you put yourself under my tutelage, so that I can help you find your way to the way." Just then, someone cried out, "the castle is on fire!" The King turned and saw his castle engulfed in flames, but then he looked around and saw that everyone was already a safe distance away at the festival, so he said, "everything I care about is already out of harm's way." The monk turned and saw the same scene and shouted, "my rice bowl!", and began to run towards the castle. As he watched the monk run straight towards his burning castle, the King said, "farewell, master".

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This is an adaption from a much shorter Zen teaching whose origin and author are, as yet, unknown to me, but, to be sure, it is probably 1000s of years old written by someone who is more modern than I will ever be.

Hidden Treasure

There was once a monastery in a remote province, situated on a very busy east-west path, such that nearly every traveler would stay for the night. The monastery was run by five elderly monks.

It was not always that way. There used to be 40 monks of varying ages, but as they started to pass away of old age, their numbers diminished, until, finally, seven remained, including the master.

On the eve of his death, the master transmitted his Buddha mind to the most enlightened of the six, but the morning after, both the master and his disciple were dead, the latter having died of a stroke.

Left without a master, aging and barely able to operate the monastery, the monks tried to impress upon their guests the simplicity and beauty of their way, but no one, not even the weariest of travelers, showed any interest in joining them.

After one of them fell ill and almost died, the monks decided, out of sheer desperation, to seek advice from a mystic living in a nearby forest. They traveled for half a day to reach his cabin. He greeted them from his garden and invited them into his sitting room.

They told him about the events that lead them to their current circumstance, how they tried and failed to engage travelers to join their ranks, and how, if the situation did not improve, the death of any one of them would make it impossible to continue running the monastery, which would end the succession of masters in their monastic lineage, and would leave many travelers with nowhere to turn during their long journey.

The mystic reflected for 3 hours. He sat motionless and expressionless - his eyes fixed on the wall opposite him. The monks were so entranced by this, that they sat equally still and quiet for the entire duration. He then stood up and asked the monks to walk with him to his garden. As they walked out of his cabin, he began to speak in a quiet and monotone voice:

"I do not know why fate brought you to the circumstance you find yourselves in today, or how you might better engage your guests to join you, or what will happen to weary travelers if the monastery closes, but I do know one thing."

By this time the monks had reached the mystic's garden. The mystic himself never left his doorway. He just spoke louder as the monks got further away, which created the Illusion of closeness. The monks paused and listened intently. The flowers in the garden swayed within a soft breeze.

"You need not concern yourselves with your lineage, because one of you is already a great Buddha."

They turned in unison and began to clamor as to who, but the mystic abruptly closed and locked the door. After 30 minutes of knocking and pleading, they gave up and began their long journey home in a somber mood.

In the days that followed, not knowing who among them was the great Buddha, they treated each other with newfound reverence and comported themselves with newfound grace.

In the weeks that followed, this mutual reverence and grace permeated every aspect of the monks' behavior. The guests took notice. The word spread. Within six months, 10 travelers stayed on to live their way. After a year, 30 more joined. When asked by new disciples, "who among you is the master?", the monks would answer, "all of us and none of us."

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Note: This story is adapted from a much shorter Zen teaching whose origin and author are, as yet, unknown to me, but is probably 1000s of years old and written by someone who is more modern than I will ever be.