On my way up the mountain carrying some roofing materials, I stopped to catch my breath, and as I unconsciously gazed at a scrub cedar tree that I had trimmed a month earlier to clear the trail, an insight popped up. Insights happen like this - at random - and seldom have anything to do with the thinking mind. They seem to originate from someplace else.
It came to me that if I happened to die at the foot of this tree, the 70% water that this body consists of and the remaining ash that's left over would quickly sink into the soil at the base of this tree and disappear. This being the case, why would I want to make a fuss about my life? In many ways, after all is said and done, this little scrub cedar tree is as important as I ever was or ever will be, and perhaps more so.
I have made my way through this experience called life for 68 years now, making lots of waves for myself and everyone else, and realizing in hindsight that in the wake of those insignificant waves that can toss your ship about so dramatically, the really important things in life leave few footprints on the earth.
My footprints are still huge but I am doing what I can to lessen them. I live in a 52 Square foot cabin that I built for $1500. 7 feet by 7 feet, no water, no plumbing, but I do have a small electric heater for the wintertime and a lamp. Three luxuries - a land line, a DSL line, and a laptop are available to me in the little office trailer at the main meditation center, as well as a bathroom with hot showers. So I am not exactly living a life of Robinson Crusoe! And I feel privileged that I can live this simple lifestyle on an out of the way, eighty-five acre Texas ranch in the hill country.
Because of the remote location and primitive dirt roads, (it's a 3 1/2 hour round trip to Lowe's and Home Depot), my Silverado four-wheel drive V-8 is a necessity for getting through mud and hauling building materials (I build small meditation cabins up on the mountain), but I try to go into town only once a week in order to save on gas and truck maintenance. My social security check actually doesn't allow for much more!
There seems to be a knack for keeping footprints small, even in the midst of a busy life. If your wants are small, if you can get by with little and still be happy, then the footprints begin to shrink. Wanting and craving for things and experiences so that we don't become bored, is what causes "Big Foot" footprints! Whatever we buy; gasoline or big screen TVs, they set into motion a string of footprints from industrial pollution to financing terrorism.
As a nation, we are largely unaware, I believe, of just how large our footprints have been. Consumerism (to patriotically keep the economy strong, even if we have to borrow heavily!), international adventurism, all kinds of manic activity has been encouraged to keep things going and exciting for us. But yet, surveys show that Americans are not as happy as people in many countries, including some fairly poor third world countries. Why is this? If you read some of the articles that are out there, you can feel the increasing unhappiness, even bitterness. Could it be that happiness comes from a different place than from consuming, adventurism, and how much money we can accumulate?
How can you get by in life with little and still be happy? If you presently rely on outside stimulation for your happiness, feeling that you are not complete within yourself and need outside stimulation, be it consumer goods, cars, TVs, houses, relationships, even religion; then your happiness depends upon something outside of yourself, something that you can think up. As such, it is a drug so to speak, and the fix needs to be repeated often. Otherwise you might fall into loneliness and despair. This requires an endless struggle to provide yourself constantly with these outside stimulations, again, no different from any other addiction.
But when our minds are unattached, non-dependent, when we can frame an entire cabin with no thinking whatsoever except for which board comes next, then there is a certain peace that comes with that, a contentment that requires nothing outside of ourselves. There is just "that" in front if us, and this is a satisfaction that requires nothing and is unchanging regardless of the physical circumstances.
This kind of contentment is 180 degrees away from the constant stimulation that depletes our body and minds so much. It not only relieves the mind of it's many contrived burdens, but brings up a certain kind of deep courage where even the fear of death becomes as nothing. And if we look closely, it is this fear of death, as a subconscious basis, that instills all the little fears in our hearts daily.
Working up on a mountain by myself with power tools and ladders, and at least two hours from a hospital or EMS service, doesn't bother me in the least. (I am, however, naturally mindful and not distracted when I work with the help of my meditation practice). But, being 68 years old I could have the massive stroke or chest pains at any time, however that doesn't bother me either even as I realize that the body only lasts so long. But again my meditation practice over thirty years has been good for my immune system, for stress relief, and for my health. The only "medications" I take are vitamins. (Sorry Pharma industry!)
Emergencies in a remote area don't bother me because meditation, in some ways, is a practice of dying to the world. Once you practice in this way and face death head on, the fear dissolves. The concept of death changes, and dying becomes not an emergency at all, just a change of clothes. Meditation also relieves the impulsive urges so that the mind can relax and enjoy life without necessarily doing something to keep the mind busy. This is a big stress reliever when you learn to let go like this.
All in all, if you can find a way to relax into smaller footprints for yourself, I believe that not only will you be happier but you will have a good feeling that you are helping your fellow human beings by taking it easy on this fragile earth.
anagarika eddie is a meditation teacher at the Dhammabucha Rocksprings Meditation Retreat Sanctuary (www.dhammarocksprings.org), and author of A Year to Enlightenment. His 30 years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Thervada Buddhist monk.
Great article e. I guess we should try to leave less footprints and more imprints. The unseen imprints of love, mercy, justice & truth. I am so appreciative of your focus on love and justice e. Blessings to you
What a nice away to put it; love, mercy, justice and truth - If you
punched what each compassionate religion stands for in a punch card, I'm sure the
these holes would show through the entire stack. Only the holes that
show through, I think, are what's important.
Thank you Dr. Rhymes! Metta (Pali for lovingkindness).............e
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I love your youthful idealism, and I hope to have mine intact when I arrive. A small log cabin for $15,00? There's nothing wrong with that. It must be beneficial to your vibrant mind.
Hey Greg! Thanks for the comment. (Fifteenn hundred - $1500.00)! It's quiet, in the middle of nature, a chance to look at life at the grass roots level so to speak. You are welcome to come out anytime you would like to. There is never any fee for you! . . .Or anyone, actually :)! The directions and guidelines are on the website noted at the bottom of the article.
I never know how my articles that encourage people to think for themselves will resonate, so it's always nice to get positive feedback. Thank you Brianna.
Thank you so much, MIchael. Your comments are always sincere and to the point. You get it. (Must be because you live in Austin. :)
It seems that way, that "Small footprints turn into giant leaps." When we get out of the way and tone it down, it makes room for something so much bigger to take over!
53 is a perfect time to start a new life. You know Sue, all the wisdom in the universe is inside of YOU, all you have to do is to access it. You don't even have to read books. If you can touch that wisdom, insight will naturally occur.
In the end it's patience, understanding, compassion that will matter,
not other things that blows us around and are connected to
the Eight Worldly Winds: gain and loss, fame and
defame, praise and blame, pleasure and pain. You can get past all of
these if you really want to and are willing to practice.
Thanks again for reading my stuff, and especially thanks for commenting on it.
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