San Mig Light and the Buddha

reading "Buddha" by Karen Armstrong.
free day today, meaning no officially scheduled classes, workshops, etc.

30 minute, somewhat hilly, stroll to town from the guesthouse.
hot and humid (siyempre naman!).
short hair, tank top, ipod, singing aloud to the trees and the cicadas.

wanted to plop myself down at LB Square and read and people watch.

so i did.

as i was sitting at the outdoor part of Jungle Java Cafe, i contemplated many things.

some are:

* Gotama's "Going Forth" is comparable to my moving into The Center and ultimately coming here.
left my job
left my husband
left my doggy
left a swanky SF apartment to move into the basement of a meditation center
left a lifestyle
my family (both sides) thought i had lost my mind.
in a sense, i guess i did.

* how integral yoga is to meditation practice.

* how everything unfolds just like it is supposed to.

* how in some ways my journey seems to parallel Gotama's.
i was feeling quite puffy-proud of this realization.

then, i got to the part:

"But first, before Gotama could even begin to meditate, he had to lay a sound foundation of morality. Ethical disciplines could curb his egotism and purify his life, by paring it down to essentials. Yoga gives the practitioner a concentration and self-discipline so powerful that it could become demonic if used for selfish ends. Accordingly, the aspirant had to observe five "prohibitions" (yama) to make sure that he had his recalcitrant (lower-case) self firmly under control. The yama forbade the aspirant to steal, lie, take intoxicants, kill or harm another creature, or to engage in sexual intercourse."

had a good laugh, as i finished up my beer, ate my plate of fried squid, and remembered how malibog i've been feeling lately.

i don't think i would make a good monk.
;)
and thank goodness for that!