Terms of Engagement
Tuesday, 7. February 2006, 08:34:23
: Today's Reflection is about being engaged in life,
: with everything it brings our way.
A mouse somehow sneaked into my apartment last evening. Small, slightly cute from a distance, yet definitely out of place. Probably took a wrong turn on the journey of life, and ended up hiding somewhere under my stairs. Tobi, of course, doesn't really care. Shows some curiousity, but not for long. If it was a cat, that would be a whole different story - Tobi would be glued to the cat hours on end, of course if the cat allowed it. Most of them don't, and communicate it very clearly. Tobi gets the message and disengages.
On the rare occasion where a cat doesn't care about Tobi's nose, face, or tongue anywhere near it, the show begins. Tobi is absolutely fascinated with cats, and can follow the more friendly ones for hours on end. Every so often, he would run back to me, with his mouth wide open, tongue rolled out (being in love comes to mind), makes sure I am still around, and run back out. Treats, even the more favorite ones, are useless then and he ignores them completely. Even his favorite cheese. He is fully engaged.
:: "Moments of dynamic quality, moments with the potential
:: to move our very souls, are all around us. Though
:: unpredictable, they require only one thing from us in
:: order for us to experience them: We must be available.
:: Because it resides in your response, dynamic quality is
:: everywhere you are, if you are open to the experience,
:: willing to seek it out, interested and alert to what is
:: happening within and beyond yourself. In life, you must
:: be present to win." - anonymous
Speaking of cheese, there is a piece now waiting for the mouse, together with a nice smelly chunk of peanut butter. Organic of course. Both are strategically situated along the corner of a wall, inside a mousetrap. To no avail. The mouse is on a diet. What am I missing? Crackers and wine on the side?
On a slight detour, here is a story about dogs, cats, and mice, of a Romanian origin apparently.
In the beginning there was no enmity between the cat and dog, and they lived on friendly terms together and served their master (Adam) faithfully, each one doing its own work.
But as you know, it is very much better to have a written agreement at the beginning than to have a row afterwards, so they decided to draw up an agreement defining the work which each had to do, and decided that the dog was to do the work outside the house, and the cat the work inside. For greater safety the dog agreed that the cat should take care of the agreement (because it is safer inside than outside the house), and the cat put it in the loft.
After a time, the devil, who could not allow peace to last for a long time, secretly set the dog up against the cat; so one day the dog remarked to the cat that he was not fairly treated. He did not see why he should have all the trouble outside the house, to watch for thieves and protect the house and suffer from cold and rain, and only have scraps and bones for food, and sometimes nothing at all, whilst the cat had all the comfort, purring and enjoying herself, and living near the hearth in warmth and safety.
The cat said, "An agreement is an agreement."
The dog replied, "Let me see that agreement."
The cat went quickly up the loft to fetch the agreement, but the agreement, which had been a little greasy, had been nibbled by the mice who were living in the loft, and they went on nibbling away until nothing was left of it but a heap of paper fluff, and as it was as soft as down the mice made their home of it.
When the cat came up and saw what the mice had done, her fury knew no bounds. She pursued them madly, killing as many as she could seize, and running after the others with the intent of catching them.
When she came down the dog asked her for the agreement, and as the cat had not brought it, the dog, taking hold of her, shook her until he got tired of shaking her.
Since that time, whenever a dog meets a cat he asks her for the agreement, and as she cannot show it to him he goes for her. And the cat, knowing what the mice had done to her, runs after them when she sees them.
The end.
:: "Prey passes the tiger who
:: Sometimes merely looks,
:: Sometimes pounces without hesitation,
:: But never fails to act." - Tao
Life is a constant and endless series of opportunities. If we don't reach out for things, if we don't take advantages of what comes our way, then we cannot be in harmony with the essential nature of life. Even more so, in order to notice these opportunities, we need to be present and aware. This is engagement.
Whatever comes your way, you must somehow engage with it. Whether you receive it, whether you alter it and let it go, whether you knowingly let it pass. Doesn't really matter. The key is to recognize the opportunity and consciously engage. Taoists recommend learning from a master. I am learning from Tobi.
A sunny week to you all, inside and out.
Simon
WIDGETIZE