my way, your way

today during my tai-chi class i must have broken at least 2 of the grave precepts - the lady in front of me, in her expensive track suit and dripping in jewelry, was doing a simple movement like it was the most important thing in the world and she was the prima ballerina at the bolshoi (maybe it was and maybe she is) - anyway, her intensity translated into vaudeville, and as such, it made me laugh!

well then it struck me - we all interpret things differently don't we? and.. that doesn't mean that one way is right and another wrong (as I was thinking, or at least, as was my initial, visceral reaction)

if we all spent as much time criticising what we do ourselves and not what others do...

Precept*
Not to extol oneself and slander others

Key
Humility

Prohibition
Not competing or coveting

Aspiration
To give my best effort and accept the results

Inspiration
There are no winners or losers

from In Process: A Journal of Spiritual Practice, quoted in Turning Toward Happiness: Conversations with a Zen Teacher and Her Students.



*7. Not Praising Yourself While Abusing Others