Windhorse

My pal Dana loans me her castoff reading material, since we're interested in a lot of similar stuff, and because her book budget is worlds higher than mine. Anyway, this weekend, Rowan was really sick; hacking, coughing, miserable little boy who only wanted to curl into my lap and do nothing, and Kestrel has kicked into high-speed teething, where his whole face is swollen and he has to sleep upright to keep from drowning. So there I am, on the couch, smothered in Small Boys, reading the September copy of Shambhala Sun, when an article by The Sakyong, Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche rearranges my head. He says,

The teachings of Shambhala offer all kinds of practices to raise windhorse. The most effective lies in virtuous activity, embodied in the qualities of the mythical tiger, lion, garuda, and dragon. Each time we act with discernment, generate love and compassion, let go of attachment, or relax into the natural vastness of our mind, we are breaking through the stress and confusion that keep us trapped in suffering and instability. The point is to use our worldly lives to create spiritual success. The secret of success is to keep putting the welfare of others before our own. Some may consider this approach unrealistic, but the ruler knows that getting off the “me” plan is the most expedient and practical element in any social or economic system. Life tastes good when we are moving forward, free of self-interest, in tune with the glory of our being.

Woah. Who would have thought that enlightment was there to be recieved, in the act of just being present with two other little beings, putting them ahead of, well, everything except bathroom breaks? Discernment? In cancelling all activities, goals, appointments. Generating love? Check. Generating compassion? With every soggy tissue, check. Let go of attachment? Well, I'm attached to them getting better, but unattached from every other thing...the babes on the couch had become the center of my Be-ing. Relaxing into my natural vastness? Still working on that one, but that was what the magazine was for. It's a huge shift, from "did nothing but push fluids on recalcitrant kids" to "oh, I spent my Sunday in tune with the glory of my being."