“Pema here.  I gladly offer this perennial wisdom to you,
with wee commentary by Krayna.  May you take all this to heart:”

 

1.  Pema:  The mundane details of our life eat us up.  Therefore it is important to keep asking ourselves again and again: What is the most important thing?  Since death is certain and the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing?  Let that perspective be your guide.

KC:  I don’t want my parting shot in this life to be all about whether I got the crap on my “to-do” list done.  How about you?  Asking, “what’s important?” is a great question to help us become sane, clear and grounded.

2.  Pema:  Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself.  At the gut level, you might want to go for the most comfortable thing.  Go for the stretch.  Sometimes the stretch is to stay, sometimes to go.  Sometimes to say, Yes, sometimes to say, No.  You don’t always know.  The key is being willing to go through the shedding and unmasking process.

KC:  The comfortable or safe is the status quo.  Sure, some of that’s okay, but only to a point.  Otherwise, you’re reduced to living in a real small, stale room.  Discovering the immensity of your being comes from the streeeeetch, not the status quo, yo.

3.  Pema:  Rest in the insecurity.  Remember that when we lose ground we habitually panic and look for something solid to hold onto: that’s a description of suffering.  Go at your own pace.  And don’t push it.  But continue to train in resting with insecurity.

KC:  Truth: no one really knows what’s going to happen, though we pretend we do.  How often have you “lost ground” cuz things didn’t go as you’d imagined, the plan went awry, or your honey ran off with the circus?  Find ease with ambiguity and you’ll begin to truly relax, like Pema.  Is this not the face of happiness?

4.  Pema:  Don’t believe everything you think.  If you can follow this advice, you will be in good shape.

KC:  Righto!  Can we lighten up, take thoughts and fears less seriously?  They are, after all, impermanent, ethereal as clouds, ever-changing.  What I know is that if I’m suffering, that’s a call to investigate the very nature of the fears we take so seriously.  I’m down with that.

5.  Pema:  Take exactly what appears as your path.

KC:  What happens through the course of the day, or my life, is not a detour; that IS the path.  Whatever happens or doesn’t, is the path.  How I meet what shows up is the key.  Good to have a key, right?

 


“Peace, out.  Love you!”