Service

"It may be the devil, it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody." Those lyrics are running over and over in my head. Bob Dylan, for one, sang it. It's his version I'm hearing. Why? Because I realized that I serve my cat. Yup, my cat. The primary living being I am living for is my cat. I remember hearing that H.H. the Dalai Lama said once that he was surprised to find out that so many western students of Buddhism had closer relationships to their animals then to their neighbors. I laughed when I heard that. I laughed because it's true. It's true because that's what I'm doing. I love it. Again, I become the thing I have ridiculed in the past. You got to love a path that keeps throwing your own hypocrisy back in your face. That's the only sort of path to love. If you buy your own B.S. then you'll buy any body's B.S. You'll start believing whatever your government tells you. Weather your good sense believes it or not. Why? Because if you desensitize yourself from recognizing B.S. in your self, when you hear other people doing it, it will sound too familiar for you to call it out for what it is. I know that's over simplified but it works for me. So make sure you do not surround yourself with "Yes Men". You need to have a joker in the deck. The royal court jester of old. The fool who is the only one who can insult the king to his face and live. You need that person in your life. You will not like them. That is the point, oh lord, oh kingly Dharma student. oh suffering human. It is because you are wise that you keep them around. They make you laugh, and others laugh. We laugh at ourselves which allows us to let go of whatever we were just clinging so tightly to. In that letting go comes a freedom. The moment of that freedom is pure potentiality. That's were you need to plant the best seed you can. That's where you'd plant all those great prayers you find in all the major religions. Prayers like "Bring me peace, oh Lord." or " May all God's children be safe and at peace." or "May all suffering beings reach the end of cyclic existence, Samsara." What ever your flavor is. This is a non-denominational blog. You need to do it when "You" are not in the way. Why? Because I'm not someone who believes that prayers really come true. That's right, I speak for myself. Sometimes I don't believe prayer or meditation works. By works I mean, brings and every one else in contact with me positive results." Selfish, eh? Yeah, I know. I want it to work. I want to cling at least to that one story. And I do cling to it. I believe that by practice I can become someone who is a, what could be called, a "spiritual person." If I were dominantly Christian I'd say that I want to be one who "walks close with the Lord." Those people who so much energy to help others and a good healthy attitude toward this life of suffering and beauty. I've met some like that. They're seeing a better movie then me, in one sense. I'll end it there. This post could get excessively long. It would be more fun if you were hanging out with me here. Then I'd have someone else around to serve beside my cat.
The retreaters come out of a six week deep retreat this Wednesday. Those are the periods where they don't leave the immediate vicinity of their homes. No long walks in the hills. They focus on their mediation and yoga practice in a more intense way in these deep retreat chunks. I believe they do and that is what really matters, for me. "Why Matthew, what ever do you mean by that? " If you were here hanging out with me, we could start a whole 'nother conversation about Service.