As long as we have a body, ordinary life will present things that ego considers problems. Waking to ordinary life implies that we’re not awake. When we are stagnant and fearful, interested in a safe comfort zone, we do not notice the beauty of ordinary life. But we can broaden our view. Waking to ordinary life is about cultivating a vulnerability to beauty. This occurs when we have the necessity to face the difficulties of ordinary life without compromise. If we take a closer look at ordinary life and lean into it, beauty explodes on us. “Every breath for beauty” is a secret for enduring joy. Being overwhelmed by being busy can conceal our fear. We can consider that any space, including the bathroom, can be an empowered chamber that nurtures transformation. The state of a bathroom indicates something about our mental state, the clutter in our thinking. We may not know how clutter pollutes our practice and work. Cleansing our mind can begin with cleaning spaces. We have to notice the piles of clutter before we can declutter. We can’t blame it on others; we have to look in the dark places ourselves. Comedy is a great tool to nourish our brain. It’s normal to think there is no stability in chaos, but there is a view in which chaos is very stable. It’s worth shaking up our dearly held beliefs. Action needs to be taken in ordinary life, and it can be messy. Energy follows the quality, direction, and motives of our attention. We can produce food for influences that live off contention and the disturbance of mind. If we know we are not able to “hold our seat,” it can be healthier to withdraw our attention from influences such as politics so that we are not participating in perpetual disturbance. Lalitha is a spiritual teacher with an ashram in British Columbia, Canada, who was empowered by her master Lee Lozowick in 1998. Her books include Waking to Ordinary Life and Cultivating Spiritual Maturity.
