Dear Friends,
In a course on the eightfold path I took with BCIMS a couple years ago, the reflection document included this reminder: “the practice of Right Livelihood is not an effort to live up to an externally imposed set of rules in order to not be shamed, but an ongoing inquiry into how to better align with our desire for the wellbeing of ourselves and others.” (Rachel Lewis and Adrianne Ross, January 2022)
In a discussion on right livelihood, Joseph Goldstein wrote:
Whatever work we do can be performed with the noble aspiration of benefitting other beings. The practice of Right Livelihood, the fifth step of the Noble Eightfold Path, takes this aspiration and puts it into practice.
Joseph Goldstein, Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening (2016), page 387
For today, we can reflect on the ways we are putting our aspirations into practice – at work, with our families, or in the community – and perhaps feeling into areas where we can grow.
Or we might notice others who are putting their aspirations into practice, as described in this poem:
Contact Joy
He cleans the base of the skis
Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
with a fine, steel brush to remove
the old wax, his body swaying
above the ski, tip to tail, tip to tail,
so the micro hairs on the base
will lay down in the direction of travel
on snow. A fine copper brush
cleans it more. His movements
are quick, precise, a dance
that now comes naturally.
The only music is the sound
of the brushes, the sound
of his breath. There is no
laughter, no joking,
not even a smile, but
sometimes on winter nights
I walk toward the light
in the garage and watch
his body intent on its work,
and I feel the quiet joy
he finds in preparation
and the work of foundation,
and his joy seeps into me,
soft as the darkness
that holds the garage,
deep as the space
that holds us all.
https://ahundredfallingveils.com/2022/04/01/contact-joy/
With good wishes,
Andrea