The Golden Rule

Treat others as you want be treated yourself.  Do onto others as you would have done unto you.  Be nice and people will be nice back. The success of one does not diminish the accomplishments of another; another’s loss is a loss for all.  Move through your day seeing others as yourself, and treat them accordingly.

However you phrase it, The Golden Rule isn’t golden for nothing!  It may be the only rule humankind needs to live in peace, harmony, abundance and joy.  And it’s essential for our personal lives as well.  Think about it.  If you’d love a compliment about your cute new outfit, compliment someone else; seeing the happiness on their face as they receive your kind words will reflect onto and into you, and you will feel just as happy as they do.

Ah, but what about that guy who spies his friend toward the front of a long line and cuts in, taking the last few tickets for his family? You have choices in how you react. You can look daggers at the line-cutter and waste the rest of your day complaining about him, or you can gaze on him with compassion for his non-awareness, and go about the rest of your day still balanced and content.  Or if a friend starts again on her tale of woe, and you don’t have time or inclination to listen yet again, extricate yourself from the situation with sympathy and kindness rather than impatience and judgment.

We all make mistakes, we all do things we shouldn’t, we all act thoughtlessly at times, and we all would like our transgressions to be viewed with kindness and compassion.  Do  this for others, and you will receive treatment in kind.

And by the way, your outfit is stunning.

All in a Name?

Wednesday and no post.  I don’t have a topic, and I can’t find the time.  My email notice reminds me frequently and I make a mental note for “later”.

This morning I was vacuuming and dusting and listening to a Caroline Myss book on my iPod when the phone rang.  “Hi, it’s Bernadette,” the voice said.  I ran through my list of friends and acquaintances with that name.  I surprisingly know a fair number of Bernadettes.  It took another sentence from her to realize it was my college roommate.  We speak only about every 10 years, it seems, but her voice registered quickly.

I’m going to skip the part about how excited I was to hear her voice (it’s not the Om Hour, after all), and get to the nitty-gritty.  We were placed in the same room at college –   Room 711, a lucky number! – because our names were similar.  The RA thought it was cute.  Bernadette was Psychology, I was English.  Fast forward twenty-nine (!)  years and Bernadette is in the Holistic healing business down in Virginia with massage, oils, reflexology, and more.  And here I am, practicing and sharing yoga, reiki, and meditation. She’s coming to visit soon and boy, we’re going to have to talk fast!

So, the thread that linked us when we were younger has held fast through absence; it’s even grown stronger without us knowing!  We thought it was all in the names, but I guess it was more than that. Synchronicity.  It’s a beautiful thing.

Is it a 4-Letter Word?

There is a Chinese tale about an old Zen Master who works diligently in the monastery garden every day.  The young monks think he should take it easy, relax.  They know he won’t listen to them, so they hide his tools.  The next day, and the next and the next, the old teacher does not eat.  They young monks think, he is angry with us.  We better return his tools.  That day, the teacher works and eats as usual.  That night he tells his students, No work, no food.

The Zen Master knows that we must each contribute as much as we consume.  We give so we can take.  We grow so we can eat.  We clean so we can stay healthy.  Some of us resent all the time it takes away from more interesting pursuits.  Me, I’d rather be reading or practicing yoga.  Maybe you like to watch TV more than you enjoy vacuuming.  But let’s try to put WORK into perspective this week, and see that it is not just another four-letter word.

Turn on your awareness, and watch those you come in contact with this week.  See how they interact with their work, and try to find someone for whom work seems more like play.  In fact, I bet there are some aspects of work that you enjoy, so be on the lookout for that, too.  Then think about it (dare I say, meditate on it!).  Why do you resent vacuuming when it leaves you with a pleasantly clean floor.  Hey, maybe you should meditate on it while you’re vacuuming.  Perhaps next time you are writing that report at the office you can put a Buddha smile on your face and see if your attitude changes.  You get my drift.  Work with the awareness that you will get back what you give out. 

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