Getting dirty in the fields.

Your boots will get muddy.  Your socks wet.  You are going to stain your jeans.  There will be dirt underneath your finger nails and you might suffer some scratches.  

Working in the fields means getting dirty. 

Your work will be the same. 

The bodhisattva knows that their time on this earth is very short.  They know that the road ahead will be long.  Knowing the truth of suffering they plunge into the fields.  Knowing liberation upon arising, they do not fear getting covered in mud.  At the end of the day, they dedicate their work for the benefit of others.  Tomorrow, they rise again. 

That is how you practice on the path. 

What is your vessel?

When you wake each morning and rise from bed, what vessel do you use to move forward through your day?

Is it profit or gain.  Conquest and power.  Do you set your sights on simply making it through? 

What carries you through the good moments and the bad?  What allows you to bear witness to the extraordinary and painful?  What allows you to enjoy your meal and drink deeply, while also allowing you to sit with hunger and thirst?

Does the nature of your vessel give rise to love and kindness or do these need to be fabricated on their own?  Does your vessel allow for generosity and patience or are those extraneous virtues that only arise through effort?  Is your vessel a source of insight and wisdom? 

Take impermanence as your vessel. 

It will carry you across beautiful waters and rough seas.
It will bring enjoyment to your meals and quell the hollows of your hunger.
It naturally gives rise to kindness and compassion,
and is the source of unending insight and wisdom.

Take impermanence as your vessel and use it to live a life of kindness and generosity.  Use it to fulfill your own aims and the aims of others. 

Use it, because it will not last.  

Setting sun mentality.

As the sun sets we have a tendency to get our things in order, to settle in and make ourselves comfortable.  We might grab a drink, start a fire (or a movie), reach for our book or tuck in our loved ones.

Establishing a state of comfort and rest is important.  And necessary.

As the sun rises we might get up, meditate, get ready for the day, grab breakfast and our coffee and move with deliberate intention.  The day ahead is ours to make, we have much to do and today is the only day I have to do it.

Establishing a state of responsibility and enthusiasm is important.  And necessary.

When we approach our days in this way, we are balanced and in harmony with the world around us.  We run into conflict when we try to alter this balance.

How does your day go, when from the moment the sun rises you are looking for a state of comfort and rest?  What happens when conflict or problems arise in your morning and disturb your pleasure?

Too often we set out at the beginning of our day with the intention, "I hope today is an easy day".  This is a setting sun mentality and we will only encounter obstacles and problems on our path.  What we do not realize is that we are actually the creator of our problems, because our intention at the beginning of the day is to already start preparing for sunset. 

Start your day with the right intention.  That intention is to take responsibility, maintain your discipline and to benefit others. 

Very simple.  Hard to do, but I trust you.