3.3.09

Ethics and Morals

This morning I have been thinking about “Metta” or loving kindness.
And how it is important to me, or how important it is to me.

Ethics and ethical conduct is not the same to me as prescriptive morality. My own skewed view is that ethics is what we apply to ourselves and morality is what we try and apply to others.

I am guilty of a little bit of my own prescriptive morality, but not as much as I used to be.

This morning I offered the merit of my practice to another, and with the aid of a home made mala I recited, “May you be well and happy” 108 times. I do not think this is exactly any type of orthodox practice, but it was expedient and helpful for me at the time.

On the way to work, I must have been driving a little too slow for the person behind me and I found I was being tailgated. I slowed down even more.

Shaving the head, again and again, these bonds of attachment are hard to cut.

9 comments:

Lauren said...

OMG that was you. I was having an exemplary metta day until some dude traveling too slow down the road slowed down in front of me even more and I blew my top. For a while, I thought this was my fault.

[wink...grin... of course]

Barry said...

Since Alice originally posted it on NOT2WO, I've been listening every day to Mipham Sakyong's "What About Me" - in a weak effort to engage in metta practice.

At least you noticed the person behind you! Which is more than I do, sometimes... Dang! this metta is hard!

What About Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDSAAlrqAHM

SlowZen said...

Lauren,
Guess it was just our car ma. Doh!

Barry,
Yeah, I saw that on your blog. Nice one!
But no meta is harder. I think.

ToBlog today said...

Once I came upon someone driving slow (speed limit), I was driving faster and over took him. Just as I passed him, I thought why am I speeding and slowed down as I moved in front of him. I saw him in my rear view mirror smiling, and smiled back.

Metta

SlowZen said...

Angelina,
Were you driving from Vancouver to Portland this morning? The same thing (reversed) happened on the way in this morning.

Metta!

Lauren said...

Okay, just for fun;

I never metta person I didn't like.

SlowZen said...

(Groans)

Anonymous said...

Oh these bonds of attachment....or opportunities of attachment....

Thanks for this wonderful post. I find that driving always provides me with an opportunity to practice. And it is so helpful to have metta for those pissing us off in the moment. Even though we may not really feel it at the time.

"Fake it till ya make it", a wise practitioner said to me recently.

SlowZen said...

Thanks Molly!

Thanks for looking!