Friday, August 13, 2010

BUDDHA will be doing your hair today.

I was recently inspired by a post I read from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

I will share it now with you, exactly as it was shared with me.

"There is a common perception that compassion is, if not actually an impediment, at least irrelevant to professional life. Personally, I would argue that not only is it relevant, but that when compassion is lacking, our activities are in danger of becoming destructive. This is because when we ignore the question of the ...impact our actions have on others' well-being, inevitably we end up hurting them."

 
That statement brought some interesting thoughts to mind.

As a (somewhat) practicing Buddhist, I am not unfamiliar with the concept of work as meditation... work as a spiritual practice.

You do not have to be versed in Eastern Philosophy to understand the power of intention, as a matter of fact wonderful teachers like Dr. Wayne Dyer have brought these once lofty and far away ideas so much closer and made them more..... lets say accessible.

I digress.

What his holiness was explaining is that in our culture we have been taught to believe that the work place,  our career spaces, are not places where compassion should dwell...

We have all heard the saying "climbing the corporate ladder." which is usually followed by "be careful who you step on on the way up!"..... right?

How about, "sleeping your way to the top." or  "burning a work bridge." or "keeping a door open."

I can go on and on with negative, work related statements.

Which brings me back to my earlier interesting thought.

I am one grateful man!

The power of compassion, my buddhist beliefs and my idea of work as meditation has brought a whole new level to what I do behind the chair.

When I can get my self to that place of true compassion and intent at work, it is pure magic....
I liken it to the amazing book, Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel.

Oh come on Henry, really?
Cooking with emotion to create emotion?
What could that possibly have to do with hair?

Well, I hear you....... cooking and mixing color hmmmmm such an odd comparison.

But I did say that Meditation and the power of Intent was pretty amazing right?

When I mix color it is very much like cooking..
1 part love
2 parts experience
1 part joy
a dash of hope
and a drop of excitement.

When I mix color it is not just what I mix, nor is it just how i mix, but more importantly why I mix.

I have seen beauty happen each and everytime I do hair from that place.
When I do it out of love and prepare myself, and my products to give.
It is then, and only then, I receive.

Amazing, isn't it?

The  Dalai Lama says that when we meditate, when we open our hearts (first) and then our minds to beautiful possibilities.

He says there is magic in us all..... there is  Buddha in us all.

So therefore I can safely say that on those very special days........ when all is good in me, when I have an open heart and I allow compassion to lead my way.......

That It may not (just) be me doing your hair that day.....
Buddha might be in the mix as well.


Namaste




1 comment:

  1. I wholeheartedly agree with this. Roll on the day when spiritual practices enter the workplace and we can all arrive at - and leave from - our workplaces intact. As our Selves... xxx

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