The Old Masters
The Old Masters were sometimes asked, “Teacher, what should I focus on?”
“Listen to the birds.”
The students, scratching their heads, would wonder what deeper meanings must lay within the answer.
Here is the deeper meaning: Experience joy in the simple things.
I will now tell you why. A good chair or a smooth bowl are deeply pleasurable, as is a comfortable pair of shoes. These things are true whether we believe life exists after death or not. Contentment in the simple things is a way to find contentment.
What better way to find contentment after death than during life?
When we find contentment, a space is created. This space is a result of removing discontent, frustration, anxiety, fear or insecurity… if for no more than a few minutes or a few hours. It is within this space that we have an opportunity to improve ourselves in a more natural way of living.
What is “a more natural way of living”?
Nature has a way of speaking to us when we are quiet, still or content. It’s the feeling we get when we sit at the beach or atop a mountain vista. It’s a warm, sultry wind rustling our hair and fondling our skin.
In such moments, we take deeper, more contented breaths. Our sighs are those of relief. We relax into a deeper, more relaxed nature or ‘way’ of being.
The more deeply we can relax within ourselves, the greater the opportunity to experience a deeper, more contented way of living.
Contentment, in this context, does not mean we are agreeing to all the troubles in the world. Rather, we are finding a calmer, more still place within ourselves. As we find it, the world finds it. That’s how the world stands a chance: through us.
