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.

Some of my favorite lists

Came across the gargoyle below and it made me think of the importance of lists in our lives.














There are to-do lists, grocery lists, honey-do lists, and of course, commandments. Below are a few of my favorite lists. Perhaps this is the first time that core tenants of a major religion and an agility handling system have been presented side-by-side. I’m pretty sure it’s not the first time that one has been confused for the other though… So, without further ado, I present to you the lists:

Four Noble Truths
1. The truth of suffering (we get attached to things that can change, and when they do, we suffer
2. The truth of the origin of suffering (we crave the things we are attached to)
3. The truth of the cessation of suffering (there is a way to end suffering)
4. The truth of the path to end suffering (follow the 8 fold path)

Eight Fold Path
1. Right view
2. Right thought
3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right concentration

Five Precepts
1. Don't kill
2. Don't steal
3. Don't engage in sexual misconduct
4. Don't lie
5. Don't drink in excess*

*

If you’re Jack Kerouac and are writing a book about this stuff, you may even drop this precept all together. Of course, if you are Jack Kerouac, you died a number of years ago due to complications from alcoholism, so it’s probably best to keep this one in there.

Greg Derrett Handling System*

1.     Always keep your eye on your dog

2.     Handle with the arm and leg closest to the dog

3.     Shoulders face in the dog’s direction of travel until the dog has committed to the obstacle

4.     A front cross should be completed at the closest point to the next obstacle

5.     Front crosses should only be completed where there is a change in direction

*as summarized in Clean Run magazine

A close shave – or on the dangers of multi-tasking

Sometimes I am mindful. Other times, I am less so. A few posts back I wrote about shaving as mindfulness practice. When we try to be mindful, we often catch ourselves not. Which is fine. Because if we catch ourselves, then we are being mindful. And the thing to do is to return to paying attention and being in the moment. Until we notice ourselves not. And then the thing to do is to return to paying attention and being in the moment.

One way that we make it hard on ourselves to be in the moment is to multi-task. Instead of focusing on doing one thing well, we split our attention at doing a bunch of things in mediocre fashion and best and to our harm at worst.

Case in point:  As I was brushing my teeth this morning, I was also going into the medicine cabinet getting all of my shaving stuff out. It’s a big production now. It involves toners and cleansers and soap and brushes and, of course a razor. So in the middle of getting all of this stuff out, I knocked the razor off the shelf and somehow managed to slice a centimeter of skin off of the back of my little finger on my right hand. A pint of blood (I exaggerate some) and a bunch of bandages later, I got things under control and all cleaned up. I was running late and ended up not shaving at all. I also had to stop brushing my teeth to attend to the blood. And that was hard to do, because my toothbrush has a timer and I’m a bit compulsive and it was difficult for me to stop before the timer went off. Anyhow, if I had just brushed my teeth first and shaved second, this wouldn’t have happened.

Well, hopefully this little post helps someone not cut themselves or rear-end someone, or send out an important e-mail with an embarrassing typo. Then my finger shave will not be in vain.

Remembering the Keys

Most every morning, my wife and I walk our dogs.  She always has the keys to let us back into the house. I got in the habit of not bringing them. Lately, when we get back from our walks, my wife does a training session with our youngest pup. I have had to interrupt those sessions to ask for the keys to let the dogs in the house. For weeks I have had the intention of bringing my own set of keys to let the dogs in. For weeks, I have failed to remember to do. Until yesterday.

Weeks ago, I started with the intention: I need to remember to grab my keys on the way out. I’d let the dogs out, and wouldn’t remember until we got back from the walk. Over time, I’d become aware that I forgot to bring the keys earlier and earlier into the walk until yesterday, I remembered before we left. I have observed this pattern in other areas of my life: Shutting the back door all the way in the winter when I’m letting dogs out. Throwing the burnt match that was used to light candles and incense away after I’m done meditating. Remembering to practice what I know about operant conditioning and the rules of my agility handling system instead of defaulting to sloppy training/handling. Staying mindful during meditation. Absorbing what I’m reading in the Dhammapada and other texts.

What I believe I am learning, and what I would like to share with you is this:

1.      Start out with intention

2.      Catch yourself in old habits

3.      Repeat until intention turns to consistent action

I read somewhere that becoming mindful of your actions and doing things with intentionality is like walking: Each step is the process of falling forward and then catching oneself, and then repeating the process until you get where you want to go.

Not Good vs Bad

In Buddhism, instead of saying that a thought is good or bad, it is said that it is either skillful or unskillful.  One the one side, there is greed, hatred, delusion. On the other, generosity, compassion, and wisdom. I have recently returned from a conference where the focus was on using operant conditioning as a technology to train everything from a fish to a person to perform tasks quickly, precisely, and in a way that is enjoyable for both the trainer and the trainee. This type of training is in sharp contrast to methods of compulsion, of force, of threats. In my mind I have found it easy, then, to lump trainers into "good" trainers (those who use operant conditioning) and "bad" trainers (those who use aversive means). This is not a useful distinction because it implies that people are fixed as being one way or the other. By shifting my perspective to view one's training methods as skillful or unskillful, it opens up the possibility of change, of improvement, of compassion, of understanding.

On Mindfulness and Shaving

The other day I went to the local pharmacy to purchase razor blade refills. And not the cheap ones. I was buying the 20 blade aloe strip variety. You know, the kind that are so overpriced that the place that sells them needs to actually encase them in a dispensing device that makes one feel like a chimp in a zoo trying to figure out which button to press to get a treat.  I find it so insulting to have to buy them this way. And of course, I never push the button just right and the thing jams up and I need to get help. Well, that day, I decided: No more! 

So, what were my options? Over the years, I had tried the cheaper disposables, which is what led me to the 20 blade model. It was, after all, the best of the disposables. I did my research and started reading about straight razors. Like the kind that my grandfathers used. Well, I  imagine they used. I was three when both of them died and have never really thought to ask about either of their shaving habits. But I digress.

From what I could tell, there were four simple rules:

1. Always use a fresh blade
2. Don’t rush
3. Use a good shaving brush and cream
4. Shave after your shower

I got a nice handle and a fresh set of blades from a company that also makes surgical knives. Got a good shaving brush and cream. Shaved for the first time, I confess, before, my shower, but wrapped my face in a hot towel first.

Lathered up the brush, then my face. Took my first stroke, slowly, I thought, and NICK. Nice gash on one side of my neck. Few more strokes. NICK. Smaller bit of skink this time. By the time I was done, my neck was looking more than a little raw.

Now I’ve shaved thousands of times. I’ve always treated it as just something you do, like washing  your hands. I never really thought about it. Was never aware of doing it. Was just another part of the routine.

What I have learned, over time, is that a straight blade razor causes you to become very mindful of shaving. You have to pay close attention. You have to slow down. You have to apply the right pressure at the right angle and most importantly, WAIT for the blade to cut the beard. You cannot force it. If you do, NICK.

Now, cognitively, I knew all of these things going into this. I read all of the advice. Thought I was following it, but still, it took me a good dozen times to get it right.

It’s pretty obvious where this is going, right: You can read all of the spiritual stuff you want. You can “get it” intellectually. Yet, it is through the practice that you really make it happen. I leave you with the four rules:

1. Use a fresh blade (Approach things with a beginner’s mind)
2. Don’t rush (Have patience)
3. Use a good shaving cream and brush (Adopt beliefs, ideas, philosophies that resonate with you)
4. Shave after you shower (Find the right time to practice)

Choices

"Mistaking the false for true and the true for false, you overlook the heart, and fill yourself with desire."

Have you ever noticed the gap between what you think will bring you joy and what really does bring you joy?  It could be having another drink, buying a fancy car or new computer, striving for and getting that next promotion. Going on business trip after business trip, "making it happen" so you can, you tell yourself, enjoy to do the things that are most important to you, only to find out that you're not ever around to do them.

Conversely, look at the times when you do have joy. I bet it's the simple things, like having a cup of coffee with your partner, walking the dogs, reading, spending time with family and friends, exercising, enjoying nature...

Each day we have a choice to make. We can either be in endless pursuit of what we want or we can want what we have.