Never Miss a Workability Post

Today we want to share a passage from Sakyong Mipham’s book "Turning the Mind Into an Ally."  While he is coming at the challenge of working with a rigid, uncooperative mind from the Buddhist perspective, so much of what he offers here is an excellent parallel to the work that we do through conversations and workshops.  

"There is an old saying that bringing Buddhism [or a new idea] to a new culture [or an old mindset] is like bringing a flower and a rock together.  The flower represents the potential for compassion and wisdom, clarity and joy to blossom in our life.  The rock represents the solidity of a bewildered mind.  If we want the flower to take root and grow, we have to work to create the right conditions….the problem for most of us is that we’re trying to grow a flower on a rock.  The garden hasn’t been tilled properly."

We all want happiness, well-being and peace, but few of us realize that we are not creating the proper condition to bring those seeds to fruition.  Most of us are wise enough to know what the right seeds are.  We are smart enough to know that planting money seeds won’t bring us happiness.  That planting "be famous" seeds won’t bring us satisfaction.  Having the right seeds is only the first step.  

We risk missing the technology that makes the result possible by focusing only on the "flower."  Think of the seeds as your intention.  It is critical to pay attention to not only your intention, but the ecosystem your intention lives in.

Take a moment to consider if you are creating the right conditions for your intention to be realized and to blossom?  

That’s a very challenging question to answer for yourself.  We tend to be poor judges of ourselves and often get it wrong.  We are like fish who cannot see the water we swim in.  

In order to answer the question, you need awareness.  Awareness that a condition exists.  Awareness that a condition is not supportive to realizing your intention.  You need the awareness of what conducive conditions would be.

Awareness is our field.  We traffic in it and working with us will help you cultivate it and increase it where it matters most to you.  This alone will soften the surface of your mind.  There are also more active steps you can take to break up the solidity of your mind; we can help.  Book a 20-minute call with us to find out more.

To the right conditions!