Moment of gap

Sunday, May 10, 2009

I was being driven in a car one day, when a horn honked loudly from behind.  A car comes up by my window and the driver's face is purple and he's shaking his fist at me-- my window is rolled down and so is his-- and he yells, "Get a job!"  That one still stops my mind.

The instruction is that when something stops your mind, catch that moment of gap, that moment of big space, that moment of bewilderment, that moment of total astonishment, and let yourself rest in it a little longer than you ordinarily might.  
. . . . 

When your aspiration is to lighten up, you begin to have a sense of humor.  Things just keep popping your serious state of mind.  In addition to a sense of humor, a basic support for a joyful mind is curiosity, paying attention, taking an interest in the world around you.  You don't actually have to be happy.  But being curious without a heavy judgmental attitude helps.  If you are judgmental, you can even be curious about that.  

--Pema Chödrön, Buddhist nun


[She and Ginsberg had the same teacher, Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche]

2 comments :

  1. thanks for posting this. does this mean you'll now play the "stranger in a grocery store game" with me?

    ReplyDelete
  2. M'kay. I was playing. It was just making me laugh. Besides, you are too good at creepy looks. It stops the mind. I guess that means you're a spiritual teacher.

    ReplyDelete

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