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By Root 1053 0

planet. But as millions of female homemakers have always known, money is not always part of the exchange. A pedestrian stumbles, a passerby reaches out a steadying hand; a baby cries in the night, a parent sings an off-key lullaby; a student finds geometry confusing, a teacher uses after-school hours for extra coaching; a shopper vacillates between the coleslaw or the potato salad, a smiling counterperson understands the indecision; an elderly man needs to hang a heavy mirror, a neighbor arrives with a drill, the right hardware, and a pair of willing hands; a woman comes home from work tired, hungry, and cranky, an understanding mate prepares a simple meal. All of this is “Good Work.” All of these helping situations revolve around “doing what needs to be done,” partnership, and good intentions. As such, they are all examples of authentic vocation and following the principles of Right Livelihood on the path of awakening.

Contemplating the Possibility

of Right Livelihood

Sit down for a moment. Stop doing whatever you were doing. Relax. Settle down. Still the hands, head, and heart. Arrive fully in the immediacy and richness of the present moment.

Now let’s consider how we spend our time and our lives. Let’s examine our choices, our current condition, and where we are now. Tune in and listen; open the third ear, the inner ear of true listening—and see if we can hear, feel, sense, and know for ourselves, with certainty, what compels and calls us. Let’s see if we can find and accomplish our genuine vocation, our own true calling—not just making a living, but making a life.

Ask yourself: How do I spend my days? For the most part am I doing what I love or just “doing time”? Is my work life mostly composed of chores and compromises, responsibilities, duties, and obligations? Or am I passionately engaged in following my own star? What would I do differently if I could? (For I can.) What is the most direct route to our highest, deepest happiness and well-being?

Is my field of endeavor basically honest, meaningful, and helpful to myself and others—or at the very least, harmless? Is it emotionally fulfilling: financially, psychologically, and socially rewarding; engaging, creatively satisfying, and bringing the best out of me through utilizing and further developing my own unique combination of special gifts, talents, experiences, and interests? Or am I hiding the truth from myself in order to get by or get away with something? (The implications of my acts, perhaps?)

Does my work sufficiently support my loved ones and myself, while contributing to a brighter, happier, safer world and a better society? Or does it work against that positive end?

Is there anything I am putting off until later that might best be undertaken now? How often am I waiting to get through something and on to the next thing? For killing time is just deadening ourselves.

If I could do anything that I could possibly want to do in the world—if I held the Cosmic Credit Card—what would I choose to do?

What is keeping me from doing that, right now?

MEDITATION TRAINING

Awareness, Attention,

and Focus

The Noble Eight-Fold Path is the path of living in awareness. Mindfulness is the foundation. By practicing mindfulness, you can develop concentration, which enables you to attain understanding. Thanks to right concentration, you realize right awareness, thoughts, speech, action, livelihood, and effort. The understanding which develops can liberate you from every shackle of suffering and give birth to true peace and joy.

—THICH NHAT HANH, OLD LATH WHITE CLOUDS

Westerners who are attracted to Buddhism because of meditation often make the mistake of seeing meditation in the most narrow sense of going into a quiet room, crossing your legs, and closing your eyes. What the Buddha actually intended by this part of the path was mental discipline, an effort to train the mind through the cultivation of mindful awareness and attention to the present moment. If all the difficulties of life are the result of ignorance, deluded thinking, and conflicting emotions,