On
the verge of celebrating my fiftieth year of experiencing metabolism; I am
still an unfinished work in progress…with a long, LOONG way to go before I can
claim any expertise in the art of human existing.
One
area of interest that I’ve always been fascinated with is the culture and
practice of religious spirituality: especially those practices unrelated and
distant from the boundaries of Christianity: since that’s the way I happen to roll.
So,
I’ve been reading, and listening to books, podcasts and online lectures on the
topic of World Religions…and my first impression from the little that I’ve
learned over the past year of our Lord is that they all have much in common.
But
as I’m absorbing this stuff, there’s one philosophically significant form of
spirituality that I think all classical religious groups could learn from, my
own Roman Catholic Church included. Now
that I think of it, I suppose every living human being could benefit from these
teachings, and way of thinking, as a means for improving our lives and making
the world a better place.
I’m
talking about the teachings founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhi-dharma in the
5th and 6th century AD…something called, very simply: Zen.
As
with running, and learning about wine: Zen is something you have to practice: A
LOT, if you want to make any progress towards any kind of enlightenment…but
from what I’m learning…it has a lot of offer each and everyone of us…regardless
of our religious, political, geographical or societal origin.
Before
you power off your MP3 player or SMAH-GHT phone in anticipation of another
rambling diatribe from the podcaster best known for such rantings, let me
assure you that this isn’t a tirade on the topic of Zen Buddhism, nor even about
spirituality in general.
I
just wanted to pass along one of the lessons of the Buddha, the enlightened
one: which keeps coming back to me like a Black Lab song that I just can’t get out of my head.
This
is a lesson about the truth of suffering, and the path that leads to the end of
suffering. It has to do with staying
well within the boundaries of extremes, and taking the middle path.
See,
I’ve always been an extremist. Not
satisfied with just running a few miles: I had to run a marathon, not happy
just to lose a few pounds: in the summer of 1998 I dropped 70. I could give you a painfully long list of
other examples where I couldn’t just sample a subject or study by dipping my
toe in the cool waters of knowledge: I had to launch an armada of battleships,
directly into the froth and fray; over and above the call of duty and decency
until every last possible experience or understanding could be voraciously
consumed.
I
have within me the dangerous propensity of becoming obsessive….you probably can
tell by the way I talk about wine so often.
But I am getting better. I am
finding the middle path.
There
was a time, you’ll note, where the production of this podcast was something
that I simply HAD to get done on a weekly basis…there was also a time, not far
in the past, when I simply HAD to run five days a week, no excuses, and there
was a time when I did not, nay…COULD NOT miss a single Boston Red Sox baseball
game…you want to talk obsessive: I own the rights to the Tee-shirts and bumper
stickers.
These
are extremes, and of the many things I believe that the Buddha was absolutely
correct about is that the path of extremes will always lead to suffering.
But
then something happens that jolts you into the realization that you’ve been
living your life in the wrong way. Your
obsessive behavior has poisoned your soul, your opinion and attitude about how
others eat and run, as an example, might become very close-minded and you lose
track of all of the good that healthy eating and exercise might have given you
if you had only followed the middle path.
I
recently heard about this distance runner who had changed his diet and dropped
a lot of weight. He had become
completely obsessed with long distance and veganism. In moderation, along the middle path,
distance running and veganism is certainly a good and wonderful way to live
your life….but this guy talks about these topics as if any other opinion is
deserving of violence! The story goes that this not-much-of-a-fellow-runner
decided to help a friend complete a world famous ultra race; and when that
friend could no longer run and had to drop out…the obsessed possibly militant distance
runner took it upon himself to chastise and push the friend way too hard;
forcing his own obsession onto the runner who had chosen the middle path.
I
never want to be like that obsessed runner.
I never want to force you or any of my friends into the extremes of
anything. Living your life to the top
does not mean: living your life above the atmosphere…to live your life to the
top is to live it as best as you can, with quality and above all: happiness.
If
I’ve ever come across to you (as I call myself “Steve Runner”) with an
obsessive attitude of assumed authority, or given you the impression that you
have to run a thousand miles a year, or finish a marathon in under four hours,
in order to become enlightened and good…well, consider this my apology.
If
running doesn’t bring you happiness, please do not run; for your own sake.
There
are so many other ways to live a good and happy life. I believe, with all my heart: that this lifestyle
I talk about is a worthy one, but I can’t be so ignorant as to believe that
it’s the ONLY way to live your life to the top.
I’ve
come to believe that running can help you to be happy, but only if you run the
middle path.
I
have a very long way to go, before I get anywhere near the nirvana of enlightenment,
but this journey through space and time is a worthy endeavor. As the Buddha taught: life involves
suffering, but it also promises happiness…and we can get there by avoiding the
extremes of indulging our desires and torturing our mind and bodies.
I’m
Steve Runner, reminding you run long and taper.
