Soft Thoughts
"The highest form of spiritual practice is self observation without judgement. Each time we judge ourself, we break our own heart."
- Rabbi Max Cohen
It has been a year since I left the fabulously destructive world of public accounting, and one year since I began practicing yoga. Much has changed. I feel better upstairs than I ever have before, I am working towards professional success each day, and I have realistic goals and expectations for myself. These are all a result of the quality of my thoughts.
Lately I have been thinking about the power of the mind, and the power of detached effort. For example, when God separated the light from the darkness, God said, "Let their be light." And there was light. When the Buddha sat under the boddhi tree, he received Enlightenment. In both of these instances, their was an intent but their was no timeline or demands on when things happen. There was no stop watch taking the time as these events occurred. The importance is that they occurred under non-judgemental circumstances.
In yoga we talk about ahimsa, meaning non-violence. According to Max Cohen, ahimsa all starts with non-judgement. As soon as we judge ourselves, we are then judging others. As soon as we judge others, then words like "bad" and "better" come up. Next thing you know, you are devastatingly unhappy. A friend of mine put this beautifully the other day, "In order to get in touch with the Sea of eternity inside of us, we have to realize that we are all part of the same web. This isn't about better or best, it's about connection to the moment and each other."
- Rabbi Max Cohen
It has been a year since I left the fabulously destructive world of public accounting, and one year since I began practicing yoga. Much has changed. I feel better upstairs than I ever have before, I am working towards professional success each day, and I have realistic goals and expectations for myself. These are all a result of the quality of my thoughts.
Lately I have been thinking about the power of the mind, and the power of detached effort. For example, when God separated the light from the darkness, God said, "Let their be light." And there was light. When the Buddha sat under the boddhi tree, he received Enlightenment. In both of these instances, their was an intent but their was no timeline or demands on when things happen. There was no stop watch taking the time as these events occurred. The importance is that they occurred under non-judgemental circumstances.
In yoga we talk about ahimsa, meaning non-violence. According to Max Cohen, ahimsa all starts with non-judgement. As soon as we judge ourselves, we are then judging others. As soon as we judge others, then words like "bad" and "better" come up. Next thing you know, you are devastatingly unhappy. A friend of mine put this beautifully the other day, "In order to get in touch with the Sea of eternity inside of us, we have to realize that we are all part of the same web. This isn't about better or best, it's about connection to the moment and each other."
posted by Zen_Accountant at 7:12 AM
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