One of the very first lessons of living the principles of nonviolence is learning how to keep one’s cool in the face of upset. Every master teacher that ever lived has reminded us to be cool in one way or another.
In my experience, being cool has a connotation of specialness and feels ego-based. I’ve come to prefer the word chillax – which is a combination of chill and relax. When I feel a little stressed or frustrated, I can tell myself to “chillax.” It really helps.
Another way to think of it is being undisturbable. This is absolutely essential for a spiritual master and that’s what I aspire to be.
St. Abba Dorotheus, a sixth-century monk, explains it eloquently: “Over whatever you have to do, even if it be very urgent and demands great care, I would not have you argue or be agitated. For rest assured, everything you do, be it great or small, is but one-eighth of the problem, whereas to keep one’s state undisturbed even if thereby one should fail to accomplish the task, is the other seven-eighths. So if you are busy at some task and wish to do it perfectly, try to accomplish it–which, as I said would be one-eighth of the problem, and at the same time to preserve your state unharmed–which constitutes seven-eighths. If, however, in order to accomplish your task you would inevitably be carried away and harm yourself or another by arguing with him, you should not lose seven for the sake of preserving one-eighth.”
Set your intention now. Today, if you feel your cool slipping away and the urge to explode wells up in you, remember the real goal: to keep your cool. Today you can learn the one-eighth rule and in doing so substantially deepen my daily practice of living masterfully.
Affirmation:
I AM grounded in Love.
You are such an uplifting person! Thank you from my heart!
I will make this my intention today…..thank you Jennifer!!!
Thank you Jennifer–this is very on-point for me.
Jennifer, today was such a tough day. I wish I would have listened to the prayer for the day prior to my exhausting and trying time at work. I lost my cool after I was seemingly attacked relentlessly by another worker. I felt like no one had my back and I wanted to scream. Yes, there was not love…there was anything but. I felt horrible when I left today. I needed your prayers to help refocus and lift me back to my level headed self. Although it was late, your prayer still helped after the fact. Thank you.
btw, still waiting for you to accept my friend request on Facebook…lol