A student asked Suzuki Roshi why the Japanese make their teacups so thin and delicate that they break easily. “It’s not that they’re too delicate,” he answered, “but that you don’t know how to handle them. You must adjust yourself to the environment, and not vice versa.” Shunryu Suzuki
Do you know people who are like a bull in a china shop in that they’re so out of touch with what is actually happening that they just bull their way through? Their conversations are so full of their stuff that it seems they’ve forgotten to listen to the discussion at hand. They come from their egoic-self, not their soul, though their head is quick to tell you they are all heart. Their recommendations come from what they think is better, but they totally miss what is best.
Love means being in sympathetic vibration with your environment—not dominating or exploiting it, because love is a communion that allows true connection to happen. If someone or something is not like you or what you are accustomed to, that doesn’t mean you must change it to fit your patterning. Wisdom comes when you are able to step outside your position, see how you match up, and decide whether or not you can handle the teacup.
Spiritual Contemplation: Where are you butting heads in your life? How can you adjust to the environment, or do you even want to?
Affirmation: I am able to connect in the various environments I find myself.
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