Responsibility

With the sun rising early in the morning, I am already en route to my military reserve base. The light is still grayish, the sun and fog slowly rising around me. Inside my car it feels as though time has stopped and I hear only the quiet background music. I think of the daily life when its routine is broken like today, by a special event. I think of how our lives are actually much more than plain materialistic survival nowadays, and how important it is to observe the daily routine and see that much more is happening in our daily lives than meets the eye.

I remember a paragraph from the 'Zen Wisdom' which states the consciousness is in fact the spirit that guides the way for any person willing to search for it: "true Zen is discovered in everyday life. It is the consciousness in action. It opens, more so than any other limited consciousness, all the inner doors to out nature. So, the soul is immediately freed." If so, it appears we should act through 'the little things' and perhaps the dull things of daily life in order to discover enjoyment and new feelings. In other words, it is better to take responsibility and get off 'the fence' in order to be more involved in this ride called 'life'.

It begins with taking responsibility over yourself in simple things such as health and fitness, even if sometimes we don't feel like it. It also means knowing how to stop ourselves from falling back to our old habits and preconceived notions and working out just when we actually need the rest. It continues in intervening and calling out against injustice, or knowing how much criticism to express in order to be efficient in preventing injustice. Responsibility is not a burden on our backs, it is a gift that can make life easier, putting true power in your own hands, allowing us to change ourselves as well as our surroundings. When people come to me with the question "what would you have done???" (as in one popular reality show confronting unsuspecting people with staged situations of severe injustice), I answer – it is up to you.

For me, taking responsibility is daring to shed light and comment on injustice or a violent act I have witnessed, even if it means being judgmental. When it comes to hurting the innocent, I don't consider sitting on the fence an option, in the name of spirituality, and speaking calmly of acts such as violence towards children, in the family or other vile actions. Being humans and humane it is our gift to feel, and anger is a legitimate feeling. In my opinion, it is our duty, as unpleasant as it may sometimes be, to intervene in order to help, better and protect each other as best we can. 

On the other hand, it is also important to avoid being judgmental towards opinions different than your own when there is no harm inflicted on you or others. It is important to understand – taking responsibility also means knowing when to step back and listen to other opinions which, provided they cause no harm, are just as legitimate as your own opinions. Know how to be involved in a process even if it is not done your way. Take responsibility over you decisions, for your lack of acting (which is an action in itself), and remember - your desired change emanates mostly from yourself, if you just take responsibility for it.

You are the one that can change the boundaries you have set for yourself. In taking responsibility for our actions, or lack of them, we shape not only our behavior but also what happens around us. So let us not be afraid of changing our 'small reality' and become responsible for issues that seemingly have nothing to do with us today. To make a decision, initiate a response and, "god forbid", take actual action, in order to wake up in a better tomorrow.

Even if you don't quite understand why you are doing something, in hours you don't like, with people you are not too fond of, remember that what defines you is the materializing of your thoughts in your actions. If you take responsibility for your inner state, thoughts and feelings, you will actually be affecting your actions as well. If you view things in an optimistic perspective, your surroundings will change accordingly in your eyes, and you may start enjoying more cooperation, harmony and pleasantly achieved goals. So, take responsibility!

Yalon

Power of Routine

As I continuously revisit memories from my past, I see many strange experiences, some almost seem from another world, another life time. Sometimes the difficulty of an experience left a deep, lasting mark on me, which did not fade with time. However, those experiences served as fascinating catalyst for new encounters in my life.

I, like many of us, go through a life composed of special events and daily routine. Mostly, our strongest memories are formed during those special events, be they good or bad. However, I wish to focus on the daily routine and the long journey of our daily lives. Studying academically for a degree, entering an internship period at a new place or profession, coping at work and training along the year are only a handful of examples from our daily lives. How many of us feel so tired at times, we barely find the will to continue pressing on? How many of us already want to see the end of the pursuit and experience new beginnings? It seems persisting, without constant excitement, is note-worthy and requires great mental strengths.

I believe we should honor the ability to finish processes, persevere in them so we can really make the most of our actions and find more development and enjoyment in them. Sometimes the routine is exactly what's required (no less than the dramatic events) in order to help us develop maturity, understanding and sensitivity to our surroundings. In our daily routine we receive the opportunity to appreciate and see more depths to our surroundings. 

In order to find the new within the old we need to look. There are several steps I can recommend you try on your way to enjoying and developing in your routine. First, a technique used in meditation – arriving at your sacred inner space - a safe, quite place. There you accept yourself as you are, flaws and virtues alike, and that is where your true strength lays. The peace that grows in that place is a powerful one, which enables you to open a path of will power and strength, so you will be able to apply them to your daily life, thoughts and actions.

Second, you should learn how to draw on energy when you are tired, depressed or simply bored during your routine life. What is that energy? In my personal opinion, it is everything. To put it in simple terms, it is a power used to perform action, physical or mental. It can be referred to as conscious & subconscious, physical & astral bodies, in body or spirit. We can pick up on spiritual impressions from our surroundings, develop a consciousness and focus, which will allow us to enjoy and learn during our routine, instead of just going through it. This mental-focus may be developed in training, such as the Chen Taijiquan form, Qi Gong or other Taiji forms.

These sorts of abilities require a bit more than pure logic. They require a little faith and open-mindedness. We need to open our minds and entertain new thoughts. Open our hearts and "hear" through the heart – feel the new options that lie in every process along the way. Routine offers us much more than meets the untrained eye. It can be enjoyable, productive and exciting, enabling us to reach new places and embark on new journeys. We can become excited by the obvious, find depth where we once thought was only shallowness, and rediscover ourselves through the feelings of monotonous routines (with less emphasis on the act itself and more on the feeling while performing the act). The last especially can be learned while performing a monotonous Qi Gong, where the motion remains the same, but our inner feeling changes considerably from practice to practice, and withing the same practice.

In a book I enjoy quoting, Paulo Cohelo's 'Warrior of the Light' it says the warrior knows that at times the battle stops, and in the battlefield's silence he listens to his heartbeats… he learns that the heart is full and that faith excites the soul. He knows that maintenance is no less important than action. 

So, if you feel like you are 'out of breath' and it's becoming harder to carry on. If you are considering to discontinue what you have started, think of the power that routine holds. I believe in the power of routine to improve our lives, give us enjoyment, satisfaction and opportunities to develop and learn.

Benyamini Yaron

Thoughts About 'The Way'

The Tao Te Ching, which speaks of the Tao (the way), it says: "He who devotes himself to learning seeks from day to day to increase his knowledge; he who devotes himself to the Tao seeks from day to day to diminish his doing… till he arrives at doing nothing… at this point of non-action, there is nothing which he does not do." On the other hand, a common Chinese saying goes: "It is better to walk 100 steps than to read 1000 books." So, we might ask, which is the right way to go? What is the right path to take and what should we take from it?

During one of my lessons, while teaching a certain move, a student asked me what exactly it's supposed to work on, and what is its theoretical background - an important question, which I of course replied to. However, on my home I thought about it, and considered that perhaps we are missing the point. Will the execution of the move genuinely be of better quality if we know more of its influence and background? Maybe, maybe not. Undoubtedly, hearing about a topic, or reading about it, is no replacement to actually doing it, feeling it and performing it in real practice.

When the bible said "to know a woman" it didn't mean to hear, speak or even be acquainted, but to connect in the physical, practical level. To know in our minds, bodies, emotions and all our senses – that is the meaning. Sometimes we can understand more if we ask less and do more. Thoughts, spirit and energy are supposed to materialize in matter, in the physical performance which makes intention – application. Then, we have come a full circle.

I think of how to walk the way? Perhaps with joy and regulation, which suit our life's circumstances and personal character. We shouldn't chase improvements nor endlessly work and strain in order to achieve more. We should just be. Just listen to what is happening and knowing how to react in a silent match which isn't trying too hard, and yet creates change which advances us.

I also think it is important to look at the 'glass half full', the positive in you and the situation you're in. From that point of view, you can expand your actions into something greater. Instead of observing failures, I find myself preferring to observe the accomplishments, small as they may be. Then, I will know which way to go in order to develop my stronger sides, in joy and belief that I can succeed.

We are all on 'the way', everyone is constantly learning, and it is important that we open our senses to the people around us, their messages and life's circumstances. If we know how to have fun, be happy, accept ourselves with love and look on the bright side, we can also learn and advance while making a lot more of the learning – while doing it on 'the way'.