Mindfulness Mondays 61: The Great Hunger
July 26, 2010 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
Wayne Dyer opens his book, The Shift, with a passage from Hasten Slowly, a recounting of Sir Laurens van der Post, who spent time with the Kalahari Bushmen:
The Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert talk about two “hungers.”
There is the Great Hunger and there is the Little Hunger.
The Little Hunger wants food for the belly;
but the Great Hunger,
the greatest hunger of all, is the hunger for meaning….
There’s ultimately only one thing that makes
human beings deeply and profoundly bitter,
and that is to have thrust upon them
a life without meaning.
How well are you satisfying both of your hungers? What will you do today to make sure that you are doing something to satisfy your great hunger?
Mindfulness Mondays 60: The Cracked Pot
July 19, 2010 by dr. lam · 2 Comments
Marcy, who works with me, gave me this story. It is a great one. Enjoy!
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot
was perfect and always delivered a full portion
of water.
At the end of the long walks from the stream to the
house, the cracked pot arrived only half full..
For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman
bringing home only one and a half pots of water.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own
imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half
of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be bitter
failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the
stream.
I’m ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side
causes water to leak out all the way back to your
house.’
The old woman smiled, ‘Did you notice that there are
flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other
pot’s side?’
‘That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so
I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and
every day while we walk back, you water them.
‘For two years I have been able to pick these
beautiful flowers to decorate the table.
Without you being just the way you are, there would not
be this beauty to grace the house.
Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it’s the cracks
and flaws we each have that make our lives together so
very interesting and rewarding.
You’ve just got to take each person for what they are
and look for the good in them.
Mindfulness Mondays 59: Live Before You Die
July 12, 2010 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
First I was dying to finish high-school and start college. Then I was dying to finish college and start working. Next, I was dying for my children to grow old enough for school, so I could return to work. Finally, I was dying to retire. And now, I am dying 
I love this quote. It helps us to remember that life is for the living. We need to enjoy the ride and not worry so much about our destination because the destination is not that important, really.
Mindfulness Mondays 58: Wagasa
July 5, 2010 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
I am reading Garr Reynolds’ second book, Presentation Zen: Design, in which he uses the design and execution of Japanese umbrellas, known as wagasas, as a metaphor for good design. He means that good design is based on simplicity that inherently can carry the rich complexity within it. We need to pare away excessive things that get in the way rather than add extra things that seem to be all bells and whistles. I think I can appreciate this metaphor for life. We can learn to let as many unnecessary things go so that we can delve into the simple aspects of our life. By doing so we can explore the rich diversity within that simple framework more powerfully. Think of a wagasa this week as you work to explore more deeply the things you truly treasure and to remove the elements that clutter your life.
Mindfulness Mondays 57: No More Questions
June 28, 2010 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
Upon meeting a zen master at a social function, a psychiatrist asks him, “How do you help people?”
The zen master replies, “I get them where they can’t ask any more questions.”
The point of this short story is not that we should not ask questions in life. Instead it is that we ask so many questions because those questions reflect in us a lack of trust, belief, and calm. We need to know more and more and more, but we are never satisfied. We need answers to our questions, but we don’t wait for the answers because those answers are not enough to make us happy. When we explore whatever opportunities that exist in front of us we are tied down by the what, what ifs, why nots, etc. that we can’t think straight. When we get to a point of calm and peace, the questions magically disappear.