Pizza or Life - One bite at a time

I recently heard a talk in which the speaker narrated his experience of travelling to the USA with a Thai Buddhist teacher. After returning from the journey, he asked the teacher, "Ajahn, what was your most memorable experience of the journey?" (Ajahn is a Thai word meaning teacher or professor. It is used to respectfully address a Buddhist teacher.)

The teacher thought for a while and said with a twinkle in the eye, "It was when I had a pizza for the first time in my life." 

The speaker was surprised. He had expected the answer to be something else. Eating a pizza was a very trivial happening according to him.

"But Ajahn" he said "You had only one slice of the pizza."

"Yes" replied the Ajahn "That one slice was enough. I had it fully. I did not just eat it, I relished it bite by bite."

Then the speaker realized that this was also the teacher's philosophy and way of leading his life. When he did something, he did only that thing and he did it fully. 

The result?

When the Ajahn did gardening, the garden was his universe. No, the plant that he was tending to was his universe and the purpose of his life. Nothing else existed for him. He had the most beautiful garden ever.

When he ate, he was focused fully on the meal, morsel by morsel. He did not eat a lot. In fact he ate less compared to most people his age. But he was always full of energy.

He never had to repeat any work that he did. Nor did he spend any time in correcting his mistakes. Because there were no mistakes. And the reason is the same. When he did something, he did it as if it was what he had been born to do. Even if it was a small thing, he did it as if he had spent his whole life preparing for only this one thing.

When engaged in a conversation with someone, only that person and that conversation existed and nothing else mattered. 

When he went to sleep, he only slept. And he would get up after exactly six hours without an alarm clock, fresh and rejuvenated for the next day. He never needed an afternoon nap. 

Most importantly, he never multitasked. It is not that he had any less work to do. There was loads of work as a teacher who was also managing a monastery. But it was always one task at a time, with full attention. Surprisingly, no task was left incomplete or postponed for the next day.   

It was no surprise then that even though he had only one slice, he relished the pizza more than someone who had the entire pizza but was doing many other things at the time. 

Pizza and Life

Just like the Ajhan eating the slice of pizza, we should live our life one bite at a time. This is all the more important today because we are living in times when diversions are around us at all times. Physically, we are doing one thing. Mentally, we have already finished doing the next 3 to 4 things. One is never fully present in what one is doing.

As a result, we do not remember what we did. Also the chances of making mistakes goes up. 

BUT the biggest drawback is the increased stress. People living in the future are generally stressed about the outcome of the future event. People dwelling in the past are generally full of anger and resentment leading to stress.

But are we relishing the bite that we have taken right now? It can be a bite of food or a bite of life, are you experiencing it fully? Are we involved in it physically AND mentally? Sadly the answer for this is NO for most of us. 

As a result, frustration and dissatisfaction are on the rise in every walk of life and work. We see busy people who are not productive or satisfied. We are living in an information age with the most ignorant people around. We are living in an age with the most number of modes of entertainment but there is the highest ever number of bored people. We live in an age with the most advanced medical care in the history of humanity but the pharmaceutical industry is one of the fastest growing. We have the best ever modes of communication but there is more misunderstanding than at any other time in human history. Isn't all this ironical at so many levels? 

The reason is right in front of us

The reason for this state of affairs is simple. We are not involved in life. We have allowed it to run on auto pilot and are going with the flow. 

That is right. Your life is what you are doing at the moment and if you are not involved in it, you are not involved in your own life. 

And the solution is as easy as it is difficult

The solution is simple, focus on the now. In other words, eat life one bite at a time. Do something with complete and undivided attention. Be fully involved with it when you are doing it. 

This is also the most difficult thing to do. It is difficult but not impossible. 

Start at some point, but start. And start small i.e. with small tasks. 

What are you doing right now?

Reading this blog, of course. Read it fully. Be involved in it. Take this bite and relish it before you move on to the next bite. Start with this bite.

Live your life like the Ajhan ate the pizza, one bite at a time.

Bon Appetite!!