To honor Lag Ba Omer, I have taken inspiration from EveryDay Zen by Charlotte Joko Beck on how to realize the oneness in our lives.
“Every one of us, in every interaction, meets our pride which includes its children: frustration, irritation, resentment, jealousy. What can I do with my anger? What is a fruitful thing to do? The idea is to back away: to do and say as little as possible, to create A BIGGER CONTAINER. (My ABCs). To do this is to step into another world- the spiritual dimension.
When we are angry there’s a huge block that stands in the way of practice: the fact that we don’t want to practice-we prefer to cherish our pride, to be right about the argument, the issue. That’s why the first step is to back away to see that we need not be right, but to be A BIGGER CONTAINER (ABC). Step back and observe. Label the thoughts drama. See the thoughts as thoughts, let them subside and what is left is direct experience- the physical reaction in the body. Since there is no duality in direct experience, you can enter the dimension (samadhi) which knows what to do and what action to take. It will be the best action for you and others as well. In making A BIGGER CONTAINER, you taste oneness in a direct way. The pride, out of which anger is born, is what separates us. With the BIGGER CONTAINER, what is created, what grows, is the amount of life we can hold without being dominated by our pride.
It is not easy. At first the space will be quite restricted, then it will get bigger and bigger still, into an enormous and compassionate space. As our practice grows, two factors simultaneously increase: wisdom, the ability to see life as it is (not the way we want it to be) and compassion, the natural action which comes from seeing life as it is.
Remember also that a little humor isn’t a bad idea. We don’t have to get rid of our neurotic tendencies; what we do is see how funny they are, that they are part of the fun of life and the fun of living with others. They are all crazy and so are we! When we don’t see our own craziness; that’s our pride, our self-will run riot.”
How does this relate to Lag Ba Omer? It will help us find the light!
BubbeWisdom 