Todays service at Blue Lotus Temple was especially good for a number of reasons.
Don’t get me wrong, I always enjoy visiting with the Sangha members, and the dhamma talk is always wonderful and beneficial.
But during todays meditation, something very interesting became clear to me.
Upstairs in the building, the Church group was holding a service with very loud singing. The singing was actually quite beautiful, but obviously distracting to my meditation.
I remembered that my mind is disturbing the music, and not the music disturbing my mind. But still, I continued to be distracted by it. I found myself wrestling between the focus on my breath, and the powerful singing from the floor above me.
Then it hit me! I cannot control my mind. And in trying to do so, I only create dissatisfaction within myself. Then, a few times I had to cough. And I realized I cannot control my body.
But here is where the rubber really met the road for me….
If I cannot control my own mind or my own body, how can I ever be so foolish as to think I can control anyone else?
What relief I felt to realize this! How many times I create suffering for myself by wishing I could control someone else. Wishing to end someone else’s suffering, trying to convince others to be Vegan, just trying to convince anyone else to think differently.
What a complete and unskillful waste of time and energy!
Just the other day, I was speaking to Bhante Sujatha about someone, and he said to me “who cares, worry about yourself!”. Wow, what a great slap upside the head that was for me! Thank you Bhante, I love you so much.
Moving on to an unrelated benefit of todays service, was a conversation with a few Sangha members before meditation even began.
We were discussing people who are ill, and possibly going to die. And someone said, “what’s the difference between that person and each of us?”. How delusional of each of us to view anothers impermanence, and yet think we are somehow more permanent. Really, you and I will be here tomorrow?
I carried this conversation into my mediation when I first began, and instantly a thought occurred to me. I was sitting in the basement of a very old building, with a large crowd of people pounding the floor above me.
If that floor were to cave in, I would be nothing more than a story in the newspaper tomorrow!
Impermanence (anicca). It faces us head on every day. We either choose to accept it or ignore it.
So all in all, I would say this was quite the day at Blue Lotus Temple.
Blessings were to be had in every moment, and I am so grateful that I was able to attend.
May you be well, happy and peaceful.
