..續本文上一頁r a meaningful life, or are we simply avoiding it

　　 If so, why

　　How we spend our time depends on how we organize our time, and how we organize our time depends on how we envision our lives. Once we have sorted out these questions and have made a clear decision to make room in our lives for practice, we have to exert ourselves rather than let the mind become too loose and unorganized, and just wait for something to happen.

　　Beware of Distraction

　　Distractions come in all sorts of disguises. Sometimes we feel we need to manage everyone else”s problems. If we have this tendency, there will always be someone who wants to pull us in, in some way. They want to consult, but they don”t necessarily want to hear what we have to say. They just want to vent. They feel stressed, and then we get stressed and no one profits in the end. Or, if in our work we are too meticulous and fixate on perfecting everything, we may never get anything done and run out of time for practice. We may also feel that we are the only ones who know how to do anything, so we end up doing everything. Some people can never say no. These kinds of distractions don”t even include the constant need for entertainment and fun, and all the foreign, high-maintenance elements we invite into our lives, such as puppies, personal-entertainment systems, and fancy computers.

　　Even in retreat, people can find all kinds of ways to occupy themselves and avoid practice, like spending hours each day pondering over their shopping lists. In India they say, “All you need are two chapattis a day.” I don”t think this means we need to subsist on two pieces of Indian bread a day, become a sadhu [an ascetic who renounces his body and all worldly things], or rough it. I think this is a metaphor for doing without. How much do we actually need

　　 How often do we get distracted by what we want and figuring out how we can get it

　　 Can we free ourselves from this kind of distraction through simply doing without

　　 Whatever our tendency, it won”t do much good to blame anyone else for our distractions. Kunchyen Longchenpa said, “Distractions are limitless; only when you quit them will they leave.”

　　A Relaxed and Open Mind

　　If we don”t have a focus, we meander around like a restless tiger, not finding any pleasure in anything. We find ourselves laying on the bed, then turning on the TV and flipping through the channels, eating when we”re not hungry, then picking up the phone. What are we trying to do

　　 We are trying to connect with the phenomenal world. But how can we when we are not connected inwardly

　　The times we don”t feel connected inwardly are the best times to practice. When our minds are restless, this might sound about as appealing as dental work. We are tormented and distracted by our thoughts, emotions, and fears. We come up with all kinds of physical sensations too. We have a pain in our neck, then it moves to our back, then our foot. All of a sudden we hear a ringing in our ears, or our eyes start to itch. It”s a little suspicious, don”t you think

　　We need to give ourselves time to allow the nervous and restless energy to settle in our bodies. When the body rests, the mind rests. When the mind rests, the emotions rest, and we feel a profound sense of contentment and relaxation, or shenjong. When the mind relaxes in a state of shenjong, it is available to us, to serve us or at least help us understand what”s up. The space of shenjong means less vulnerability, so our thoughts and emotions cannot simply shove us around and rough us up as they usually do. All our fatigue falls away. The heart clears. The body lightens and feels as weightless as feather.

　　It Takes Might and Clarity

　　We need a little strength to resist the habit of grasping at distractions, even if we are halfway in. We don”t want …

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