Old Path White Clouds by Thich Nhat Hanh, I will be sharing some of the things that we, lay people, can benefit from....things that all of us can do as a community, even though we don't see each other.
The First:
Whenever the Buddha walked, he and his bhikkus walked slowly and with great ease. They 'walked just to enjoy the walking, unconcerned about arriving anywhere at all. No one seemed anxious or impatient to reach their destination. Each man's steps were slow, balanced, and peaceful.'
I believe there is a great deal of wisdom hidden here. To walk - slowly and with ease - fully engaged in just walking - with no anxiety or impatience - in order to reach a specific point.
By extension, no matter what we do, we need to do it slowly and with ease - fully engaged in what we are doing at that moment - with no anxiety or impatience about the dozen other things that may be waiting for our attention and time.
Two things emerged from reading this - a) the Buddha got to where he wanted to be at the end of the day, and b) he was not tired or stressed or anxious.
This means that if we go about our work, and all the chores the day demands of us, the way the Buddha did, we would not only be able to finish all that we wanted to, but we would be able to do it without feeling like a rag at the end of the day...
I found a resonating thought in my Native American wisdom meditation:
Whenever we walk on the Earth, we should pay attention to what is going on. Too often our minds are somewhere else, thinking about the past or thinking about the future. When we do this, we are missing important lessons. The Earth is a constant flow of lessons and learnings which also include a constant flow of positive feelings. If we are aware as we walk, we will gather words for our lives, the lessons to help our children; we will gather feelings of inter-connectedness and calmness. ~ Cleone Thunder, NORTHERN ARAPAHOE