…And How Not To Be Like A Dog Chasing Hornets, Getting Stung And Then Chasing More Hornets
by James Eke
From Warrior’s Way Podcast episode #118
We are creatures of choice. Perhaps that is one of our defining features. Humans make choices. Of course just as in the biblical story of Adam and Eve and the apple, sometimes we make good ones and sometimes the choices we make are less so – all choices have consequences though.
This seems like common-sense but how many of you have made a decision to do something, or not do something, and then afterwards you felt like kicking your own butt around the block a few times – or more than a few times.
We all make choices — every moment actually. Some choices you are going to decide are good. Some you will decide were stupid. Some you’ll not even think about.
Regardless of the fact that I have been training for decades, I can honestly say that it has taken me all this time – now in my 50s – to truly see how the decisions we make or fail to, each and every single thing we do actually, has consequences.
In Buddhism we call this Karma. What it is though is cause and effect. Every breath you take causes an effect, every action you make causes an effect. Think about that for a second or two – everything you do as a living and breathing thing sends out ripples that change everything.
It isn’t just the so called bad choices — everything we do sends out ripples. Everything changes everything. Forever.
I am first to admit I have made a lot of ridiculous choices in this life. And I’m not naïve – so have you, so has everyone, so has my dog for that matter. My dog loves chasing hornets, she will leap and bite at them in the backyard for hours if I let her and yes, those same hornets will sometimes sting her and in pure dog form, a few seconds later she will be right back at it, snapping and jumping and running.
How often are you and I like that? Virtually mindlessly doing things that make no sense to anyone watching?
Maybe you engage in gossip without thinking about it.
Maybe you drink too much.
Maybe you do any other shopping list of things that someday you are going to look back on and be like, ‘hmm, interesting, why on Earth didn’t I know better?’
I wouldn’t beat yourself up too much about any of it.
For one, what is in the past is in the past. Learn from it and move on. The second is that we are all just simple and flawed human beings doing are best to get by. Sometimes we are like my dog chasing hornets not realizing what is going to happen next – the thing is though, we need to train ourselves to be better, and most importantly, to learn from our mistakes.
This goes for everything we do.
I’ve been involved in the martial arts for about 40 years and in that time I’ve met so many people who want to believe their own hype and act like training in the martial arts makes them into some sort of big screen superhero. They walk around like they are imbued with super powers; invincible, better than anyone else. Of course this is ridiculous. Actually beyond ridiculous.
Do you think that the belt that someone has given to you makes you any different than anyone else? It is ludicrous. Does the fact that you train in whatever martial art make you unbeatable – they also thought the Titanic was unsinkable.
I’ve known people who are stellar martial artists who have been killed. I’ve known people who were certain they were a cut above everyone else brought to their knees by life. I’ve known people who you’d think were ok thanks to their training who took their own lives.
I myself have been through my own share of usually naively self-created life drama.
These days though, I have taken a different path.
I first off try to do as little harm as possible. This means a lot of different things. I am a vegetarian, I try my hardest not to speak against others or gossip, I make cultivation of compassion my central training, I try my best to think first and act second, I remind myself about a thousand times a day that right now is all I have so don’t fear the future and don’t live in the past, I remind myself as well throughout my day that everything is impermanent and try to grasp what that means. Added to this I aim myself down a road where I try very hard to not be angry, not be selfish, not be cruel, not be critical.
Of course this is all very, very, very difficult.
The difference though is that if I don’t try to steer myself down this path. To understand that this is the Way. That I will realize I’m just like baby shark-dog snapping at hornets that bite back and then bite back at them because they are biting at me.
Nobody said training is easy.
To be honest, the world is full of people who give it all half an effort. And by that, I’m not talking about just training, I’m talking about life.
When all is said and done though, I think most of us want to leave this world a better place for having been in it. We can be mindless or we can be mindful.
We can be unkind or we can be kind. We can be uncompassionate or we can be compassionate.
I know the choice I’m making.
I pass and I fail all the time. The thing is, I learn from it now like never before.
My aim in this life is to be, as I’ve said before, a light in the darkness. Sometimes that light will hopefully be blazing bright and sometimes a subtle glow but light in the darkness is far better than simply bringing more darkness.
What are you going to do?
What are you doing today?
You can sit and meditate. You can kick and punch and choke people out. This is all well and good but ask yourself, what use is any of it if you are mean, cruel, angry, judgemental, selfish and cold?
Instead, how about you make your central aspect of training to be about more than something superficial. How about you make your training about being a light in the darkness.
Imagine if everyone decided today to leave the past and all those dumb choices behind them and made the present something far greater?
What are you going to do?
Listen to the full podcast episode at Warrior’s Way Podcast
This week we talk about author and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg. Pick up her book Real Change here.
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