I took a Yoga class the other day taught by someone with whom I had never before practiced. Before class began, she was walking around, placing straps by everyone's mat. When she got to me, I said - or, more properly, my ego said -- "I'm good."
She was taken slightly off-guard and replied, "We're doing some strap work today." I said, embarrassed, "Oh...sorry...I just don't usually use props." We chatted for a moment about styles of practice, I (of course) managed to work in that I was a Yoga teacher, and we moved on. Or, so I thought.
About halfway through the class, I noticed that she was competing with me. Even better, I noticed that I was competing back! At that point, from the perspective of skillful means, I was goin' to Hell, and I was gonna be first.
We want to be noticed. We want to be, as Winnie-The-Pooh would say, Important People. We do this by interjecting our ego into situations where it is not warranted, usually to our own detriment.
There is a Zen adage that says, "You gather more flowers with an open hand, than a closed fist." As soon as I brought my ego into that Yoga shala, I closed my fist. I was not longer open to the lessons that were being lent, but had to make due with the unavoidable, slap-in-the-face subtext. How often have you done that? More to the point, how many times a day do you do it?
