Simple tips for
making the most
of our daily lives.
By Luke Bache
A
Thai meditation teacher
(who is famed for teaching
Jack Kornfield, Stephen
Levine, Joseph Goldsteing
amongst others) was asked to
summarise the teachings on Buddhism.
In response, he motioned to a glass on
the table and said: “Do you see this glass?
It holds the water admirably, when the sun
shines on it, it reflects the light beautifully.
When I tap, it has a nice ring. Yet to me
this glass is already broken. So, when the
wind blows, or my elbow knocks it off the
table I say, of course. In knowing this, every
moment with it is precious.”The preciousness
of each moment
Life and death are a package deal. In
Japanese zen the term shoji, means life-
death, two words always interconnected,
living side-by-side in every moment. Whether
it is through breath, the changing of the
seasons, the chapters in our life closing,
ageing, illness, growing old or dying,
Impermanence is present in every moment.
It is the law of nature that everything that
arises also passes.
Yet it is rarely spoken about in the
West. This might be a more symptomatic
expression of the avoidance of heavy
emotions, but I believe the more we can
embrace it the more we can value the
preciousness of life. If we see our friends or
loved ones like the ‘already broken glass’
we realise that we don’t know when their
last moment will be on earth. We don’t
know when our last moment will be either.
In knowing this, maybe we can be inspired
to put down our phone when ‘listening’ or
talking to a loved one. Maybe we can realise
that everything is in flux, ever changing, just
like our loved one. We don’t know everything
about them and never could - how wondrous
they are! Can we step into a new way of
communicating where we practice just
sitting, just listening, no need to fix, just a
curiosity to what they are experiencing in
their life – right now.om mind
“Do you see this glass?
It holds the water
admirably, when the sun
shines on it, it reflects
the light beautifully.
When I tap, it has a nice
ring. Yet to me this glass
is already broken.”Worldmags.net