A Buddha in the Office - 5 Tips For Bringing the Dharma to Work

Depending on where you work, remaining calm and mindful though the work day may seem like a nearly impossible task. Many jobs these days are extremely high pressure (or is it that we perceive these jobs as high pressured?).

With all the demands and deadlines, how can we be Buddhas all day every day, especially where we need it the most - at work.

Here are a few things to try or consider:

1. Do not worry over "who's job is it". If there is a job to do, and you are capable - Do it! How can you expect to cultivate oneness in the work place if your mindset fosters an "every man for himself" attitude. If everyone works as a team, your workplace will flow harmoniously.

2. Task Lists. Don't get hung up on how much you have to do today. If you start out your day dreading your ever-growing task list, you are preparing yourself for a bad day. Your mind will go where it has been mentally dressed to go. You can do this, just jump in. When faced with a multitude of tasks, organize your task list in order of urgency. Then start from the top.

• Do one thing at a time, giving each individual task your full attention as it arises. Just do the next thing, and then the next thing, until your list is complete.

• If  your job allows for other tasks arise during your day, drop them into your task list in the appropriate spot in accordance with it's importance, or deadline. You are only human, and can only do so much in one day. Don't stress. 

3. Never stop appreciating your job. If you take what you have for granted you are bound to loose it, or loose your love for it. It is important to love what you do. Perspective is a large part of this. Try to focus on all the things that you enjoy about your job. If you cannot find things to be grateful for at work, perhaps it is time to move on.

4. Connect with your coworkers on a deeper level. There may be some people in the office that you instantly "click" with, but an office full of "click-ie" people can quickly become a negative environment. Make an effort to really get to know the people in your office that fall outside of your "inner circle". Think inclusion not exclusion.

5. Be a leader. Even if you are not in a management roll, be a good role model and a leader.  True leaders do not ask to become leaders, their virtues and compassion naturally attract followers.

The Perils of Plans & Our Attachment to Them

It is easy for us to start carving out plans for how we hope our lives will play out. In itself making plans is not necessarily a bad thing. Problems arise because of the way we tend to interact with our plans, with attachment, as if nothing can derail them.

It is impossible to predict future events with one hundred percent accuracy, even short term. We can make an educated guess about what will happen in the next five minutes, but still nothing is set in stone. There are always unknown variables, chances for instantaneous change due to karmic actions occurring in every moment. 

This is why living in the present moment is more valuable than many people realize. We tend to "fear" what is unknown to us, thus planning out and predicting the future brings us comfort. When we predict future events accurately our egos are inflated, and we are normally very happy (assuming we were predicitng something positive). 

Our happiness largely depends on our adaptability in  handling situations where we are faced with the unforeseen - going with the flow.

Think about a time when your carefully laid out plan did not go how you had hoped. How did you feel? Were you filled with disappoint and frustration or did you greet the new circumstances with open arms, rolling with the punches? 

"Peace comes from within." It is likely you have heard or read this quote if not, than perhaps something very similar has crept though your mind at one time or another.

When we are attached to an idea of how we think something should be or how a situation should play out, we are setting out minds up for failure. 

It is alright to make plans. It is very difficult to live in this world without making plans. In order for us to get to work on time, pay bills, purchase a home, or prepare for retirement, it is necessary to make soft plans. Key word in that sentence - soft. 

The best way we can prepare for an uncertain future is to create reasonable plans, knowing things may not move in the direction we think they will, without being attached to our plans.

We must pay attention to what is happening right now. With an open heart and a clear mind we are able to meet situations as they arise, leaving us better equipped to modify our plans in accordance with the reality of the present moment. Being malleable is key. 

In a raging flood a stone is tossed about wildly in the river, but the fish flows smoothly with the current. We must be fish, gracefully moving with the stream, not rocks jostled about roughly at the mercy of our environment. 

Learning to Walk (the Path)

My Buddhist journey began with some of the Buddha's very basic teachings. Poking Around the internet, eagerly seeking new information, a weary traveler searching for water in an endless spiritual desert, finally I stumbled across an oasis, the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.

I must admit, at first, the Four Noble Truths sounded like cryptic nonsense, luckily the Eightfold Path seemed extremely logical to me. Drawn in by its promises, I was quickly engulfed by an unquenchable thirst for this knowledge.

One of the things I, as a "young" student of Buddhism, found joy in was the simplicity of the Buddha's ancient instructions. They are clearly laid out, often numbered, and still very valid in the modern world. 

We are in a blessed age. The internet allows us the opportunity to seek out knowledge about any topic we can imagine. The Buddha's teachings have changed my life, but I can't help but wonder what my life might have been if I had been born in another time or place, one without internet. Would I have had the good fortune of finding this enlightened wisdom?

I am beyond grateful for this discovery, grateful for the changes walking down this path has brought to my life. Prior to this fortunate discovery, although I did not know it, my life was heading in the wrong direction, lost in the woods without a compass on a cloudy night. 

The Eightfold Path pointed me in the direction of the path, but taking the Five Basic Precepts provided me with the guiding light that would illuminate my journey.

Depending on who you ask, the number of precepts varies. Five, eight, ten, sometimes more, but it does seem as if most people are in agreence on the first five basic precepts for lay practitioners (householders, practicing the Buddha's teachings while living out in the modern world).

If my circumstances were different, and I were not chained to the world, perhaps I would venture into a monastic life and take on more precepts. As a person of the world, holding the first five precepts has been truly life changing. 

Although these precepts are now stored in my "mental hard drive", keeping them scribbled near by in a small, hard bound, notebook brings me an unusual amount of comfort. 

They read:

• Abstain from harming living beings.
• Abstain from taking what is not freely given.
• Abstain from sexual misconduct. 
• Abstain from lying. (Wrong speech)
• Abstain from substances and situations that cloud the mind.

All simple enough, but really dedicating myself to adherence of these guidelines has transformed my life in ways that my previous self never could have imagined. 

I am so grateful to have found this path. All I can do now is keep walking. There is no way of knowing where this new road may take me, but it feels as if I am finally moving in a positive direction. 

Aspirations of Perfect Speech

I've always been a talker. I have the ability to produce something to say about almost anything and everything. This is not necessarily a good thing.

In Buddhism there is a very important concept called "right speech". It sounds simple, but right speech is not just saying the correct thing at the most ideal time. The concept runs a bit deeper than that.

I prefer the term "perfect speech". In order to have right, or perfect, speech it is necessary to speak with restraint, only when it is profitable, with truth, and wisdom, at the appropriate time. 

Perfect speech is, purposeful, well supported, clear and effective. It is not idle chatter,  second hand information, or gossip. 

Over and over again, there is a quote that I have come across on the internet regarding perfect speech. It reads like a checklist in my mind.

• Is it true? 
• Is it helpful?
• Is it kind? 
• Is it necessary?
• Is it the right time?

At first, I would catch most of my imperfect speech after it had slipped from my lips. Recognizing something is wrong is the first step to correcting a problem.

Persevering through these early mistakes has lead me to where I am today. Still far from perfect, but spending much more time listening quietly. 

Although recognizing when I am about to use imperfect speech is getting easier, it feels as if I may be working on perfecting this concept for the rest of my life. 

Two years ago feels like yesterday. I remember drawing reminders on the backs of my hands, desperately trying to remember a simple concept, "Think before I speak. Go over the checklist. Do I really need to say that?"

Quickly I realized that, in a pinch, sometimes it's better just to say nothing at all, especially in moments of frustration. Maybe I knew it all along, but ego can easily obstruct this little truth.

The more I learn about these teachings the more I realize their truths and similarities. 

It's funny. These truths are so obvious, but still manage to remain hidden, as if the answers were here all along, always right in front of me.

This gradual awakening is like standing in the middle of foggy meadow filled with beautiful  flowers. We carelessly stumble around, clumsily trampling the beauty we are unaware is all around us.

Studying the Dharma (or truth) is like a cool breeze, gradually clearing the fog from our minds. The deeper we dive and the more we practice, the easier it becomes to see the beauty that was never far away. 

I don't know if I will ever have perfect speech, but it is something that I will keep striving for. If I ever do get there, it would mean I have lost beginner's mind, which would be another problem all together.

7 Day Mindfulness Challenge - Doors

My generation grew up with Yahoo chat rooms and AIM instant messenger. We accessed the internet at as snails pace, but information was at our fingertips. Internet search engines were the next big thing, and I was in love. 

Almost twenty years later, my love affair with the internet is still alive and well. Although, I like to think that our relationship has matured into something deeply meaningful, exploring Google, and Wikipedia, seeking out answers to life's eternal questions. 

Last week I stumbled across the Vajrayana Institute's 7 Day Mindfulness Challenge. Having just finished a book filled with mindfulness exercises, I was ready to take on whatever 7 tasks the Vajirayana Institute had to offer. One task a day - how hard could it possibly be? 

The first email came in on Sunday afternoon. "Every time you pass through a door direct your attention to the present for a moment. Leaving your home, getting in and out of your car, into a meeting, out for lunch, visiting a friend, and returning home."

An easy one.

Ego was growing.  This assignment was not foreign to me, in fact it was nearly identical to a practice from the book that I had just finished reading. I enthusiastically flagged the email reminder for my "doors practice" to start at eight thirty on Monday morning.

Six in the morning, too darn early. I've never been a morning person. It doesn't matter what time I go to bed, my brain doesn't turn on until at least eight or nine. I was halfway into my lengthy commute before realizing, I'd forgotten about "the doors". 

Shoot. . . Doors... Remember doors. It'll be easier to remember the doors after I've had some coffee. 
 

Working through Monday morning emails, the reminder for the "doors practice" pop up. Realizing I had missed a few more doors since my arrival at the office, I plucked the purple pen from the can behind my laptop and quickly sketched an image resembling the front door of our house onto a hot pink Post-it.

The book about mindfulness had suggested placing sticky notes in obvious places as reminders. I stuck the  Post-it onto the handle of the phone.

As the morning progressed I continued to forget to notice doors. I grabbed a metallic blue marker and wrote the word doors on the underside of my ring finger. It would have been more helpful to write the note on the back of my hand, in a more obvious place, but then I would be stuck explaining my practice all day.

The remainder of my day continued in much the same fashion, only remembering about a third of the doors I entered.  This practice, though simple, ended up being much harder than I had expected. I had been over confident. 

Beginner's mind is a term commonly used in Zen. It refers to an attitude free of preconceptions, even when studying something that is at an advanced level. Like all things, it would have been beneficial for me to approach the "doors practice"  in this fashion.

Humbled, but not discouraged, I am ready for tomorrow's challenge. Hopefully I will become better at noticing doors, entering each one, leaving behind the past and becoming aware of each new moment as it arises.

Determined as I am, only time will tell.

A Life with Mirrors

It took me forty five minutes to get dressed today. Forty five minutes just to put my clothes on, not including the time I spent completing the rest of my morning ritual.

Not too long ago I could be out the door, teeth brushed, hair done, makeup, the whole process completed in twenty minutes. 

Outfit after outfit, nothing fit the way I wanted it to. Busted zippers, shirts creeping up above the mid line, cursing the mirror, jumping up and down desperately trying to work my ass into my skinny jeans. There's supposed to be a Buddha in that mirror, but where she was this morning, I could not say.

Less than two years ago I landed my dream job and immediately started building an appropriate wardrobe. Unfortunately, it feels like everything I purchased over the last year and a half has shrunk. 

Impermanence.

Twenty-fourteen, so far, seems to be a great year filled with growth, spiritual growth, personal growth, career growth, ass growth. I could do without the last one, but it is what it is.

Something about mirrors. 

They have always been a fixture in my life, although laity the large mirror in our master bathroom has become a source of frustration.

Reflection is always helpful. Most of us have been told at least a time or two to turn our attention inward. But mirrors don't reflect what's really inside. 

I was an awkward child - pale white skin and jet black hair. In elementary school I was often teased, and called names. Children can be so cruel. 

Little me was soft and sweet, but the constant viciousness of my peers eventually rubbed that tenderness away. 

Looking at that girl in the old cassette tapes, boxes spread across the dining room table, I barley recognize her, yet somehow, that was me. Just a baby stuffed into a lacy, red and white dress. . . or a girl grinning from ear to ear, building Lego worlds with the, dark haired, young boy in front of her.

How can that be us, the inner voice whispers.

Puberty really kicked in over the summer between seventh and eighth grade. With my new hormones came many new emotions, along with boobs, makeup, and a new, unimproved, attitude.

What a shame.

When I was younger, because I had a habit of looking deeply into every mirror I passed, my mother would make comments, concerned about my vanity.  I never felt the need to correct her, since her assumption seemed to imply the confidence that I was trying to portray to the world.

I reflect back on that, stick thin, teenager, desperately trying find her own identity.  It can feel impossible when the entire world is demanding you to conform to its tragically modern ways. 

These memories bring me mixed emotions. She was a bitch on the outside, but  deep down she was putting up walls of protection. 

She could stand transfixed in the mirror for hours, applying layers of makeup. Now determined not to be picked on, even if it meant becoming the bully herself. When did this unfortunate transformation happen?

That foolish girl, working so hard to be beautiful on the outside, so distracted. She didn't even notice how ugly her insides had already become. She was loosing herself. 

I feel the urge to hug that girl. I want to tell her it will all be alright and then somehow shake her out of her foolishness. What a nightmare. Thank goodness I woke up.

 

In more recent days, I care much less about what other people think of me, but I still find myself critiquing in the mirror. It's funny. I don't think I care what other people think, but I don't want to just "let it all go" either. 

Where are my tight tummy and well defined biceps hiding? Are they still in there somewhere, or have hours of time at the gym been wasted? At this moment I am leaning closer to my second answer. 

I'll really be kissing that "yoga butt" goodbye if I don't change something soon. 

Aging is inevitable. Impermanence is a very central Buddhist teaching. I guess I need to spend more time reflecting on this, but still I am not ready to give up my fitness. 

This body is the only on I have, and we're going to be together till the end, and who knows when that will be. Me and my body might as well be good friends and if I get to choose or have any influence, I'd rather it not be falling apart in old age. 

Who we really are cannot be found in the mirror. I know that now. It is all superficial and the mirror is just a tool, although on some days it might be a tool that we could be happier without. 

In the mean time, since we are not going renovate the master bathroom in our new home anytime soon,  the new me and I are going to work on getting better acquainted.

With a little humor, and a fair amount self compassion, I think everything is going to be just fine. I'm not quite thirty yet, and if I'm lucky, I've still got a long way to go. 

Here's to getting older, and to all the Dharma gates that aging can inevitably bring our way.