Monday 9 April 2012

simply baking

The ego is demanding – this is because it can’t do simplicity.  It wants – it needs.  The more, the better.  It’s not happy with the judgement of “good;” it wants “best” or “better.” 

I was reminded this fact yesterday when I wanted to bake a pound cake. 
An internal fight occurred:  Baking!?  Are you sure?  Can you cope with the mess, the time, the cleaning-up afterward?  Won’t it be a bore, a chore, a waste of time?  Couldn’t you do something else instead?   Something better with your time?

It’s important to listen to these complaints if only to get to know one’s self better.  It's not that I don't like baking; it's that the ego sometimes has these little strops/tantrums to try to trip us up from our own fulfillment. 
There’s a tremendous amount of mental programming that goes on, consciously and unconsciously about the value of an activity.  Little advertisements telling us the relative importance of who we are and what we're doing.  There’s also the question of recognition: will I get adequate compensation from this activity in the form of money or accolades or other ego-boosting stuff.  “What will I get out of this?” 

On the other hand, doing things for the sake of doing smacks of meditation.  It’s being alone, not getting recognition or awards, resting in one’s own satisfaction.  There’s something scary in that – something that deserves exploration. 
A great story to illustrate this:

About a month ago, my husband and I went to the wonderful Isle of Wight.  Something happened to the plumbing in our rented accommodation so the owners bumped us up to a much nicer place – one fitted out with an amazing magazine-quality kitchen.  At first I felt jazzed cooking with the best appliances, etc. but after a while there was a let-down feeling.  I could almost hear the air escaping from the tires.

There I was doing the same cooking!  At the end of the day, it was still the same activity, only bolstered by expensive surroundings, and there was something false about it.  I felt the emphasis being taken away from the most important thing which was the food and the spirit of cooking, which never needs more than a few simple instruments and some ingredients. 
Isn’t this what we’re all looking for?  The spirit to do things.  The focus has to be on spirit, and if it's on anything else, we're not going to be satisfied.

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