One of my joys in the teachings in Buddhism is how practical they are.
And on reflection, how profound.
I recently visited my son and his family who have two cats.
Arising after my grandsons had left for school, I noticed the uncleaned litter box.
The night before, I listened as the two boys negotiated who would clean the litter box and who would feed the cats. The one who promised to clean the box before school ... forgot.
As I looked at the litter box, the teaching-by-a-rule-book part of me thought,
“He will really learn a lesson when he gets home this afternoon.”
However at the same moment, my heart viewed the situation and comprehended the reality, “The cats have no clean place to deposit their waste during the day.”
I automatically scooped out the box and replaced it with clean litter.
Later when my son noticed and thanked me, I stopped to reflect on my action.
The simple truth of the situation had come with such ease and clarity.
All of this happened by “the viewer” shifting to my heart.
In meditation I practice “getting my head out of the way” and then
it happened naturally when I was faced with an ordinary decision.
The action of “no thought” seems simple and profound.
I was the one who learned a lesson that day ...
perhaps about Buddha's teaching on compassion.
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