Holding the Reins

It's cooler again today ... down to zero degrees. The sky is lighter with faded bits of blue showing through. I feel the sun's presence even though I haven't seen an identifiable ray of light. And the cloud cover is breaking up. (Perhaps we'll have a chance to see the eclipse of the moon tonight after all.)

Frances hired a neighbor to finish the trim around the windows in the porch (a project Frances started several years ago and never completed). Today is his first day of fitting, cutting, and hammering pieces of trim into place. I planned to finish my T'ai Chi Chih practice before he started to operate the saw outside the window but failed.

I can--and do!--practice in all types of situations. I've moved in the midst of loud, invasive noises many times before. My preference, though, is to work around such situations when possible. I know that I'm highly sensitive to noise; when I want to relax, I choose a quiet, peaceful setting. Today, though, I actually felt the sound of the saw in my chest and it took full concentration to relax, release, and soften.

So. With all the writing I've done lately about softening my muscles and movements when I do my TCC practice, I'm also very aware that I need to soften my mind. Last week's Dalai Lama quote from Snow Lion Publications expressed this idea succinctly:

The state of the mind of a Buddhist practitioner should be stable, and should not be subject to too many conflicting events. Such a person will feel both joy and pain, but neither will be too weak or too intense. Stability is developed through discipline. The heart and mind become more full of energy, more resolute, and therefore less susceptible to being blown about by outside events.

Deep within the human being abides the wisdom that can support him or her in the face of negative situations. In this way, events no longer throw him because he is holding the reins. Similarly, when something good happens it is also possible to rein it in. Taking the reins is the key to happiness. In Tibet we have a saying: 'If you are beside yourself with joy, tears are not far behind.' This shows how relative what we call joy and pain are.

     --from : The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Inner Peace: The Essential Life and Teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

What the Dalai Lama refers to as "holding the reins" I think of as softness. When I treat every event, person, and situation with an intention to maintain softness and flexibility, I don't react with rigidness and inflexibility.

When I practice TCC daily with the intention to maintain softness and flexibility in body and mind, I train and reinforce my bodymind to maintain peace and presence regardless of what happens around me. Then, truly, I am taking the reins to let peace begin with me....