The Buddha & The Acrobats
Posted on March 20, 2012 by Shayla Wright, One of Thousands of Spirituality Coaches on Noomii.
Discovering the basic sanity of really caring for ourselves
One day, when the Buddha was alive on earth, a very accomplished team of acrobats came to see him. The team consisted solely of a grandfather and his granddaughter. They were famous all over the country, and performed daring acrobatic feats to large crowds. The two of them had been debating one crucial point for years, and finally decided to go to the Buddha, and ask him for help.
It was the grandfather who put their question to the Buddha: “The feats we perform together are dangerous, and our safety is crucial,” he told the Buddha.
“However, my granddaughter and I have different ideas about how to maximize our safety. My feeling is that each one of us should have our first attention on the other one. No matter what happens when we are working together, I have committed to taking care of my grand daughter first, even beyond concerns or fears for my own safety. This really seems to me to be the way that love works, and the best way to care for our safety.
My granddaughter disagrees. Her point of view is this: We need to take care of ourselves first, no matter what is happening. Our first attention should be on our own safety.
We cannot reconcile our two points of view, so we have come to you, to ask for the blessings of your wisdom and clarity.”
The Buddha smiled at both of them. Then he turned to the grandfather and said, “How lucky you are to have a granddaughter with such intelligence. I invite you to really listen to her, for she is clear about this. You have been conditioned to another way of thinking which will not serve you here. Listen to the voice of this young one. Question your ingrained ideas about what love is.
How can you possibly help her if you yourself are in danger? Where will you stand? What kind of help can you offer her, if your foundation is shaking and trembling?
We would all do well to follow the wisdom of your granddaughter. Taking care of ourselves first is not selfishness, it is basic sanity.”
Of course, this is no news to most of us. We know it in our heads, with our minds. We hear it every time we fly: “Please put your own oxygen mask on first, before you try to help anyone else.’
It’s kind of an no-brainer. Except when it comes to really caring for ourselves, in the middle of our everyday lives.
Then this basic sanity takes a back seat to everything and everyone else: our lists of tasks, our family and their needs, our work, our social life….
Where is there room here for deep rest, for exercise, for eating well and wisely? For doing what we need to do in order to live strong, alive and grounded in our body?
The reason we have gotten lost in all this crazy busyness is because we’ve let the basic sanity of real self respect fall away. It may exist as an idea, but is no longer a genuine priority for most of us. We have too much else to take care of!
To enter into another kind of relationship with our body, with our basic vitality, seems to demand some kind of will, or a level of commitment that we don’t have access to.
I have been asked to lead a coaching circle of people interested in living this way, discovering a way of being that is aligned with our natural aliveness, with our willingness to live as fully embodied human beings.
Stay tuned for news about this online coaching group.
