What is completeness? Can scotch and quinoa help us find a way to live our yoga?
I recently purchased a good bottle of Scotch. I recognize how scotch and yoga connect is not immediately evident. Maybe it will never be evident. Anyway, a friend of mine was discussing a yummy bottle of scotch her husband was given for a birthday gift and I thought I should give it a try. I do love good scotch.
Drinking scotch requires some forethought. I need to plan ahead so I can carry out a deserving ritual. I don’t want to be in a hurry. I want to slow down and savor every second and every drop. I don’t want to waste it and I don’t want to waste our time together (me and the scotch). In fact, I like to drink it in good company. Preferably sitting down on the porch with time to enjoy the scotch and of course, the company.
I love the aroma when the bottle is opened. In fact, I love the smell of someone, actually anyone, who has been drinking scotch. And the color, oh the color. It is rich like liquid carmel. Silky carmel poured into a glass. A short, fat glass with ice, preferably crushed ice.
Now onto the pouring. Isn’t it amazing how it seems to pour out in slow motion, in a silky stream of sweetness. I am fascinated how it sticks to the sides of the glass like syrup. I am mesmerized by the crackling noise that leaves the edge of the glass as it is poured over the crushed ice. After the pouring, I like to swish it around so the syrup can make friends with the ice, seeping into the cracks. The perfect ice cube.
Typically, I like to take a drink before it begins to get watered down. Ahh, I love the burning sensation down my throat and the warmth that seems to float straight to my face. After the first drink I begin to feel my shoulder’s relax and my face soften. It’s as if the scotch takes a deep breath for me and sends some space in between the thoughts which take up so much space in my head. I am so relaxed, so warm and wish this experience would stay with me…
Oh, my head!! The alarm is going off and I need to be at work. I need to be at work early. I need to be clear and functional at work. I need to be connected with people in this life and not so fogggggy. I need to not be so distracted and not so clumsy. I am so clumsy the day after I have enjoyed…how can something so rich and yummy create such fog and disconnect? How can it create distraction and fog, clumsiness and fog, tiredness and fog, moodiness and fog? Maybe I need to set up some rules, some boundaries about enjoying scotch.
One time I heard someone say there is no reason to set up boundaries in our life, no reason for rules, boxes or categories. I am thinking this day after sharing the new scotch with Vince and my friends maybe that was some bad information. Maybe there are certain parts of our lives that need boundaries and limits.
What would the world look like without boundaries? If there had been limits would I be so tired tonight? Would I have a headache? Wouldn’t we all go to work late, speed on the highway, eat too much chocolate, blow off our yoga practice for a nap, drink scotch on a work night….uh oh. Hmm. It’s possible I have been breaking some rules.
Hmm. Upon more examination, the rules and boundaries are just imaginary aren’t they? Aren’t they just made up? I am so good at making up rules. I make up rules and then break them. What’s that about? I think you could say I excel at the rule making sport. Maybe, I mean I hate to rush into such a big statement, but maybe I am a gold medalist rule maker.
Questioning the rules makes rule following girls feel crazy and insane. Not following a rule sends rule-following girls to the edge of the cliff wondering what to do. A rule is a rule. Or is it? Maybe the rule is that there don’t need to be rules?
When I first met Vince he had a bumper sticker on his car that said “Question Authority.” It made me nervous. Seriously, it made me anxious. What does that mean “question authority? Why would we ever do such a thing. I think it meant the same thing as question the rules. Maybe the bumper sticker could have just said “Question.” Question with a capital Q. It is impossible to question all of these rules, inside and outside of my head. There are just too many rules to question and they are so detailed! It’s exhausting.
What if we had one big question? The mother of all Questions. The Mother of all Questions would make the questions about rules and limits and boundaries ultimately seems like child’s play. Seriously. Questioning rules about drinking scotch, going the speed limit and kissing Dr. McDreamy seem to be missing the point. If we stay stuck asking these questions we might stay on or in the eternal hamster wheel. If we ask the question of all questions, we might recognize there is no need for boxes, limits or rules or even other questions.
So what is the question of all questions? What is the question of the mother ship? It seems as though the capital Q question is “who am I” or “who is this I” and does this “I” need rules, boxes, limits, boundaries?
When I remember who I am the questions about whether to drink scotch, eat ice burg lettuce, eat too much chocolate or kiss McDreamy all seem irrelevant. They just don’t matter.
What? Have I lost my mind? Where is the rule followin' girl? Isn't she going to spin into outer space and find trouble without rules? Hmmm. Maybe not.
When I recognize who I am, who this “I” is that keeps being referenced, then all kinds of strings of attachment seem to snap away. Instead of feeling like “I” am a top spinning into the nether worlds, there is the ability to recognize that I am not separate, I am not these desires, these wishes, these neuroses, these character roles. Rules are just made up stories, made up by made-up characters. This is life, just life. There is the recognition that this is the play we are in and we are just playing our role. Sometimes the characters break rules and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes there is scotch drinking, meat eating and chocolatey dreams with mcdreamy. This is also life.
In this life there seem to be choices that can be made to decrease suffering. I know if lunch consists of a bowl of miso soup then the mind will be clearer in the afternoon than if it consisted of really spicy chili paste tofu or a big hamburger. I know if there is scotch in the evening I will likely wake up foggy, a bit moody, attached to the thinking in this head and clingy (wow, that sounds lovely to be around). Studying the sutras, chanting and reading texts seem to increase the odds that I am going to remember that I play the role, but I am not this role of yogi, yoga teacher, scotch lover, grant coordinator, social worker, wife, sister, daughter, friend.
If the body is fed well, if the body gets enough rest and enough yoga practice then we increase the likelihood we will rest in clarity, knowing who we are and that everything we need for enlightenment is right here and right now. It's the combination that the Sutra tells us creates more and more moments where we recognize who we are and the perfection of this, the completeness. We are complete, even if we love scotch, even if we get confused about who we are and even if we sometimes rely on imaginary external rules to help us out. We are the complete package, the complete package is here, the complete package is right now…we are all sort of like quinoa, the complete protein.
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