A disciple said to his Master,
 “Shifu, I really, really want 
to change my assignment!” 

The Master replied : 
"In this world, nothing is real".
*****

How can an overwhelmed mom
 incorporate this wise concept 
in her very very real life ???

As all disciples, I myself participate
 in volunteer services for the monastery where I study.

I usually arrive 1 hour before the meditation
 class and cut vegetables in small pieces :)
I like it !!!  

Indeed, it gives me the opportunity to gradually 
calm down the crazy mother inner me 
who just dropped her kids 
always too late for school...

Easier to be quiet with vegetables, right??

So, I feel good and happy.
One day, right after my arrival at the monastery, 
a shifu (a Buddhist nun) called me...
...and asked to go back
 to the town to pick up a man 
coming to study and waiting
 for somebody at the Bart station.

Oh NO.... no the car again (!!!)

But I went anyway, a bit disappointed… 
traffic jams and "small talk" do not really portray 
mindfulness for me :(
When I came back, I advised them (him and shifu)
to plan something weekly with the other 
students of his class.
****
The week after, right after my arrival,
 on the way to my favorite quiet kitchen,
the shifu asked me exactly the same thing: 
“to go back from where I arrived 
and pick the same man”. 

The same BIG NO DESIRE emerged
and I started to explain the illogical situation … 
but as no other solution could be found, 
I had to go, again.
(foolishly upset this time)

 The following week, because I am 
a very organized woman, 
I called the monastery and asked 
if I needed to go to the Bart 
before arriving to the monastery. 

The shifu told me she had no news 
from this man but I could 
wait over there, to see….just in case….

I am not a “Waiting-to see-just in case” type of person …. 
And so, i went directly to the monastery. 
Confident and proud.

Right after my arrival,
 the shifu told me, the man just called 
and needed somebody to pick him up.
:(
I said NO and even started arguing 
with the eternal smiling shifu… 


In the meantime, I was seeing me talking that way
 in the monastery and felt both 
ashamed of myself and angry towards the other,

I suddenly stopped, gave up and left quickly
 to pick the man up…again.


MY PERSONAL CHALLENGE
STARTED
On my way to the Bart, in my car,
 I had to deal with the hardness of my heart 
and the willingness to practice Peace and Compassion. 
An inner war !!

I was looking into myself, trying to calm down my anger … 
So tough to do but I also enjoyed the practice 
to overcome this difficulty: 
"Will I be able to calm me down right now 
and to welcome this man with kindness???"

I did…. as if “it was not me” and even, 
I did not try to explain how to get organized 
(that was not the point anymore, was it??)
As a master said in response 
of a disciple who did “really really want to change his services… as me” :
 “In this world, nothing is real.”

Indeed, in this world, all is what you make of it…. 
Nothing else.