Who Are Your Teachers?

Today I read a quote by Buddhist nun Pema Chodron which said (and I paraphrase): "When your heart is open, anyone--even the most annoying person you know--can be your teacher."

I love Pema Chodron because, although she is a spiritual teacher, a Buddhist elder, and an author of many guides to awakened living, she still finds people annoying. She doesn't pretend to be so evolved that life just rolls off her back. She makes mistakes, makes assumptions, gets angry and frustrated, sees her own weaknesses, and laughs at herself. It comforts me to know that someone as intelligent and compassionate as Pema can still fall down, get back up again, forgive herself, and keep trying.

We are all struggling along this path called life. Sometimes it feels like we are flying high. Often it feels like we are groveling around in the muck and mire like a feral hog. Well, you might not feel quite so filthy, but I will freely admit that I do.

Although I've been teaching yoga for more than thirty years (!!!) I am still struggling to evolve on a spiritual level. I still get angry. People bug me. I wish I could say I am constantly filled with compassion and the light of love, but more often these days I am filled with complaints.

What's a struggling yogi to do???

According to Pema Chodron, the first step is to open one's heart. Instead of shutting out the pain, the ugly thoughts, the distress, and the annoyances, we should let them in. Open the door to the heart and welcome in all the anger, the sadness, the hurt, and the grief. Feel what is there, no matter what those feelings are. Accept that we are not perfect beings. We have emotions and they are not always pretty. We are only human.

Then maybe, just maybe, we can even learn something from the annoyances. Maybe we can learn a little more about ourselves. About our egos. About our need for perfection or approval or love. Let the person who pushes your buttons teach you how to breathe. How to laugh at yourself. And maybe how to let go.

But letting go is a very advanced state, so maybe not.

In the meantime, try to appreciate the struggle. Because this is life. It's not a bed of rose petals. It's not a goblet of sparkling champagne. It's thorns and manure and blood, sweat, and tears. It's smelly and dirty and rancid. Be with it. Welcome it in. And maybe, eventually, watch it transform.