I'm currently reading "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying," authored by Sogyal Rinpoche. The Tibetans are too focused on death for my liking, but Sogyal has some interesting insights nonetheless. I am partiuclarly intrigued by his notions of laziness:
There are different species of laziness: Eastern and Western. The Eastern style is like the one practiced in India. It consists of hanging out all day in the sun, doing nothing, avoiding any kind of work or useful activity, drinking cups of tea, listening to Hindi film music blaring on the radio, and gossiping with friends. Western laziness is quite different. It consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity, so there is no time at all to confront the real issues. This form of laziness lies in our failure to choose worthwhile applications for our energy.
I had two knee-jerk reactions to his definition of Western laziness: 1) Sogyal has never been to Louisiana; and 2) that definition fits me and some of my best friends perfectly. Actually, part of me craves going back to cramming my life with compulsive activity so as to avoid thinking about all the stuff I talk about on this blog. I haven't sat zazen in a couple of weeks, in part for the same reason. I'm so damn lazy.
3 comments:
That crossed my mind last night, for some odd reason: "I wonder if Randy's been meditating? I bet he hasn't."
And I wonder how I knew that. D'you suppose it comes through in your writing?
It's like exercising used to be for me, back when I exercised. It did nothing but good things for me - increased energy, better sleep - hell, I was even more "regular." But I just don't bother. Instead, I play on the internet, which is so much better for me...
What good is it that I see it but do nothing about it?
"It consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity, so there is no time at all to confront the real issues."
Ouch. That felt a little too close to home. :)
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