Sharings from a Shopkeeper

HOW TO GET WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW YOU WANT

As a shopkeeper one of the things I have to deal with is shoplifters.

These are not mechanical devices used to raise up my building so I can have a better view of the landscape.

No, shoplifters are people who lift out parts of the interior of my shop when I am not looking. They are extremely annoying people. They always steal the nicest stuff that I could have made a better living for myself by selling those things to some other person. In this world when you have material possessions that other people want they are susceptible to theft. Interestingly at an archetypical level being a thief is just one thing a person can be in this human reality. Little Hermes in Greek mythology stole a herd of cows first thing after he was born, lied about it and furthermore, enjoyed it. Thieves and liars - spunky characters. But are they happy people??

One of the very first things we had stolen when we first started being shopkeepers was a cassette tape called "Letting Go of Stress." I thought gee if the guy would just stop stealing he could reduce a lot of his stress right there.

When you are doing stuff you shouldn't be doing, either your own "shouldn't" or somebody else's "shouldn't" (Mom, Dad, Teacher, Preacher, Society) there is a certain anxiety which takes hold in the psyche. These actions take hold either at a conscious or subconscious level or move subtly or abruptly in and out of these levels of consciousness which affects our state of mind, our actions, our reactions. And when there is stuff you "should" be doing and aren't, either because you disagree with the "should" or because you are lazy, neglectful, apathetic or somehow "just can't" (whatever) there is also anxiety which takes hold in the psyche. And again, this anxiety moves in and out of conscious/subconscious levels of the mind.

It is important that we determine clearly and consciously for ourselves what we should and should not be doing in our lives so that we can live in harmony with our own being. Other wise we have mental and emotional disturbance which in turn affects our physical health. We cannot have peace and happiness nor physical health without thinking, acting and living consciously all the time.

I just watched a pretty good movie call K-Pax starring Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges which is sort of about a guy from another part of the universe. At one point the psychiatrist (Bridges) asks the E.T. (Spacey) what sort of government there is on K-Pax. He replies that they have none. The bewildered psychiatrist asks him, well, how then do your people know right from wrong?????? And the E.T. says matter-of-factly, "Everyone in the universe knows the difference between right and wrong."

In Raja yoga, (a great path translated as the King of Yogas) which is also called Ashtanga or eight-limbed yoga , the first two of the limbs are the yamas ( don'ts) and the niyamas (do's) . In "How to Know God" by an ancient seer named Patanjali these yamas and niyamas are listed as well as many other aphorisms on how to know oneself, one's mind and the nature of reality. It is also one of the best psychology books which has been around for many centuries. (Religion and psychology are intricately linked.) The yamas and niyamas are at the beginning stages of a person's journey to enlightenment. You can meditate until you are blue in the face but if you live a crummy life, you won't get anywhere. Can you still the mind, can you have inner peace with an agitated heart? Book cover - How to know God

DON'TS - YAMAS

1. Abstention from Harming others
2. Abstention from Falsehood
3. Abstention from theft
4. Abstention from incontinence (i.e. purity in word, thought and deed) 5. Abstention from greed

DO'S - NIYAMAS

1. Purity - both physical and mental i.e. external and internal - bathing, diet and good thoughts
2. Austerity (which means conserving your energy for positive use)
3. Study and devotion (to higher ideas and the search for the truth*)

If it is true that everyone in the universe knows the difference between right and wrong why have we needed great saints and seers to give us the yamas and niyamas or God to come down and give us the ten commandments? Also, it used to be that sins were crimes and it was all very straightforward. Problem today is that there are many people with differing points of view trying to live side by side, as well as many people who don't believe in the scriptural authority of the Bible, the Koran or the Upanishads, etc. The ten commandments, for example, lump murder and stealing in with adultery and honouring the mother and father. Are these things equal in the minds of modern people?? This confusion lies at many problems in the world obviously. But it also lies at the confusion within individual people and affects our actions, our attitudes, our emotions and our health. There is so much garbage in the subconscious mind of most people, it is no wonder there are so many health problems as well. I believe the wish for health and harmony was more at the root of scriptural injunction than heaven and hell.

*The definition of truth is something which is the same in all times in all places. Otherwise, it is not the truth. People hold things dear to them which they say "this is my truth." Somewhere people have gotten the idea that a "belief" is a "truth." Not so. People often comment like that -everyone has their own truth - to me in my store - the place lends itself to that because we have material from many spiritual and metaphysical realities - however, no, there is only one truth. I am not saying "my belief is the truth" but I am saying there really is only one truth. Just as, there is only one God. Whoever has known that truth and has known the highest reality has known the same thing that all others who have truly known - it is the same - it is described in many ways, in many languages, in many times. It is the greatest game of life, our seeking the treasures of the mysteries of the universe.

It is important at some point, in this lifetime or another, that all beings examine the do's and don'ts that exist in their consciousness and decipher if they are just fears and fabrications of their or another's limited understanding or if they do in fact have meaning which will guide them to health and harmony within themselves and with the universe.

The Buddhist pretext of "desire is the root of all suffering" is inherent in why the do's and don'ts lead us to peace. Lamas, yogis and meditaters understand this very well, since the reason for all their practices is to still the mind, because it is the mind which is the cause of bondage and of liberation. Through scriptural examination and contemplation they quickly realize a faster route is to just stop "desiring" and a lot of the road to enlightenment will have been traveled. If you just examine all the things you should and should not do, you would see if you desired nothing, you would do what you should and wouldn't what you shouldn't. Then you would have everything. It is a conundrum that by wanting nothing you get everything .We strive for so many things, and do so many unhealthy things to achieve our goals, that we cannot conceive of non-striving to arrive at a state of having everything.

The following story from Zen Flesh Zen Bones, compiled by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki reveals the attainment of detachment, and love. Book cover - Zen Flesh Zen Bones

Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing in it to steal.

Ryokan returned and caught him. "You may have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift."

The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.

Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, "I wish I could give him this beautiful moon."

By Bonnie Castonguay