Slogan #58
Don't be frivolous.
“Frivolity comes across as lighthearted and innocent, but it is not. It is not real openness, but a form of aggression toward your own best self. To be frivolous is to be self-indulgently carefree, unconcerned about or lacking any serious purpose, to have little or no importance, to be unworthy of careful attention. Frivolity results in a life not fully lived.”
Judy Lief
Slogan 58 redefines frivolous according to the mind training precepts of Lojong—there is room for joy and delight when we remember what’s important from Slogan 1.
Never forget how precious human life is.
Never forget the impermanent nature of experience and that death comes for everyone.
Never forget that our actions matter, that every choice that we make directly leads to how well we will feel we have lived up to the day we die.
Never forget that the suffering that grows from jealousy, anger, hatred, and confusion is optional.
When we keep the four preliminaries close to our hearts, then finding lightness, child-like innocence, delight, and humour in life’s absurdities and pathos is easily achievable. When we do the work of self-regulation, we can manage disruptive emotions, impulses, behaviours, and thoughts in the pursuit of a life worth living. Be seriously joyful about compassion, love, and peace. Open up and let life live through you. See soul instead of story; feel heart instead of head; and act with generosity instead of greed. Laugh out loud. Embody both patience and spontaneity. View everything that you do as a practice and as Norman Fischer observes: “Actually, there is no activity that is not frivolous once in a while, and any activity, including meditation practice, can be frivolous if you want to make it frivolous.”
Hokusai’s paintings and drawings, including the iconic woodblock print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, are the inspiration for the following poem called “Hokusai Says” by Roger Keyes. The second print is a loving and light-hearted homage to Hokusai by Kozyndan whose works revolve around nature, particularly oceans and bunnies!
Hokusai Says
Hokusai says look carefully.
He says pay attention, notice.
He says keep looking, stay curious.
Hokusai says there is no end to seeing.
He says look forward to getting old.
He says keep changing,
you just get more who you really are.
He says get stuck, accept it, repeat
yourself as long as it is interesting.
He says keep doing what you love.
He says keep praying.
He says every one of us is a child,
every one of us is ancient
every one of us has a body.
He says every one of us is frightened.
He says every one of us has to find
a way to live with fear.
He says everything is alive —
shells, buildings, people, fish,
mountains, trees, wood is alive.
Water is alive.
Everything has its own life.
Everything lives inside us.
He says live with the world inside you.
He says it doesn’t matter if you draw,
or write books. It doesn’t matter
if you saw wood, or catch fish.
It doesn’t matter if you sit at home
and stare at the ants on your veranda
or the shadows of the trees
and grasses in your garden.
It matters that you care.
It matters that you feel.
It matters that you notice.
It matters that life lives through you.
Contentment is life living through you.
Joy is life living through you.
Satisfaction and strength
is life living through you.
Peace is life living through you.
He says don’t be afraid.
Don’t be afraid.
Love, feel, let life take you by the hand.
Let life live through you.