The Way

"It is you who must make the effort. The masters only point the way."

This is our collection of dog training DVDs. There are probably 100s of hours of instruction included. We have attended agility seminars and training conferences and camps.

I've read and watched maybe 10% of this pile. And I've personally applied maybe 5% (my wife has a much better track record).  Over the years, we've added to the collection, sometimes in our enthusiasm over the next new thing: the latest Selo/Garrett/Derrett etc. video has come out. Sometimes because we're responding to a specific issue: Tristan's lame, wouldn't it be nice to be able to know how to massage him properly.

After years of being a lazy trainer, I have realized that what this Dhammapada passage says is true. I must make the effort. All of these books and DVDs and seminars are guides. They all tell me the same things. I need to trust that I can do something with all this information and act.

So, I have started to plan my training sessions. To think about the results I want. To videotape the sessions to see if I am doing what I think I am doing.

And it is hard and it is a bit overwhelming at times, but it is also fun and rewarding. Kind of like life.

the way

"Everything arises and passes away. When you see this, you are above sorrow."

I dropped a casserole dish on my toe once. Hurt like the dickens. Went to the doctor. Got it x-rayed. Confirmed: broken toe. The treatment: go easy on it, and over time, it will heal, and so it did. Later that same day, was on the phone with my mother, who was in the hospital, right as the oncologist came in and let her know that she had leukemia. Within 16 months, she was gone.  Hurt like the dickens. Went to the Buddha. Meditated. The treatment: go easy on it, over time, it will heal, and so I did.   Pain comes, pain goes. Joy comes, joy goes. The thing is, we all experience pain and joy. What makes us different is how we let it affect us.