Over the past seven weeks in our Monday evening Sangha gathering we’ve been working through ways to incorporate dharma practice into our daily/work lives. The inspiration for this was two-fold. It was sparked by a question from one of our community members during a prior session (wherein we were working through the four mind changings of Buddhism) when she brought up the challenge of integrating one’s dharma/yoga practice with work life. Then I came across an article by Lodro Rinzler titled “8 Ways To Introduce Buddhist Teachings To Your Work Life” and was inspired to use that as a platform for an 8 session term of our weekly gatherings.

The 8 ways are (paraphrasing):

Meditate: relaxing around what it means to meditate such that one can incorporate “short time, many times” (direction that comes down through Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and is popularized today by his son Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche) throughout the day – even whilst sitting in a meeting!
Set intentions: choosing something that’s important to you each day – e.g., being present when someone speaks to you – setting reminders and checking in with yourself at the end of the day.
Slow down: easing up when you feel yourself succumbing to the pressure to get stuff done – acknowledge the rush and back off a bit to tune in.
Build a “mandala”: building your life around the sort of qualities that you want to cultivate.
Be mindful: frequently reminding yourself to pay attention to what you’re doing now – bringing your full attention to something.
Take breaks: intermittent moments wherein you remind yourself to stop, take a breath, and check in.
Just do it: “just show up for whatever is right in front of you.” It’s the no-more-excuses start practicing mantra.
Show, don’t tell: you don’t need to go around telling everyone what a great yogi you are, just do your practice and they’ll feel the impact of your diligence.

Our weekly process of introducing these teachings has been typically supported by short video teachings from Mingyur Rinpoche and a bit of sharing from myself and/or Sarah. Then we stretch, meditate and discuss. We’ve had some really great discussions and it feels like we’re all coming away enriched by the experience.

As I listen to those in the group it seems that folks are generally feeling pretty good about what they do for a living (i.e., their livelihood), which it seems is not the norm when you broaden that scope out to the greater community around us. It seems that a great many (most?) people are unhappy and/or dissatisfied with their livelihoods. This led me to contemplate a couple things.

One being just how much I love what I do and just how fortunate that makes me. These past three-and-a-half years have presented me with some major challenges (covid anyone?), but at the end of the day I take rest knowing that I’m doing what feels right for me and what I believe offers my best contribution to the world. So, that’s exciting. Even if it did take me many years to figure out what I wanted to do….

Second, it reminded me of something that Lodro wrote: “It occurred to me that given the current educational and economic situation in the United States, maybe the question of what you want to be when you grow up is outdated. This conversation steered me toward what is perhaps a better question for the thoughtful young person of today: ‘Who do you want to be when you grow up?’"

At this point in life, with a bit of hindsight, it is rather compelling to consider how life might have played out if this one word had been changed for all of us — not what, but who – WHO do you want to be? That, it seems, would take us down the very meaningful road of sorting out our values and focusing on the qualities of being that uphold those.

It’s not too late….

*Join us this coming Monday eve for the final session on “show, don’t tell” — and jump in starting Dec 12th for a new 6-week session on “The Six Paramitas” – important mentals states to cultivate that include generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, concentration/meditation, and wisdom! Sign up week to week at yogashalanashville.com/schedule

Lodro Rinzler:

“The Buddha Walks Into the Office: Be Who You Want to Be”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-buddha-walks-into-the_b_5791196

“8 Ways To Introduce Buddhist Teachings To Your Work Life”

https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2014/09/22/office-buddhist-meditation