Lion in everyday life

Lion

Lion goes a bit beyond the basics and yet is still very connected to them. If you make the cup of tea then when you drink it you enjoy it. That enjoyment or appreciation is infusing the situation with the dignity of the lion. You can smell the Oolong, you can taste the whole cream and the blackness, you can feel the bone china on your lips, you appreciate the energy in your muscles and digestion and the warmth. A good cup of tea is only good if one can take the moment to listen to it, to appreciate it. That brings natural joy into ones life. Lion equally appreciates the smell of the diaper that needs to be changed and the tang of a pan that got over burnt.

When one meditates one first becomes familiar with the mechanics, the posture, the body breathing and the breath. As soon as one makes friends with this then Lion kicks in and appreciates each and every breath. A sense of relaxation and play occur when there are no ‘second thoughts’ or doubts about what you are doing. Equally this happens in your work, life or craft. The carpenter joyfully swings a hammer without looking, a chef chops an onion, a lawyer follows a logic or whatever and we are all of these. The tiger energy that we have allowed into whatever area of our life will always have an accompanying playful lion. The scales of tiger are the pleasing lion chords of our life.

Lion phase is expansion too. We know how to count, now we multiply and divide. We know how to talk, now we expand into conversation. The child is growing up. Tiger and Lion are with us all our lives but adolescence does follow childhood, courtship follows meeting, family follows partnership, etc.

In your day lion could be thought of as your main activity, what you do, the filling in the doughnut. Carried and surrounded by the schedule of the tiger. Lion can also be the main activity in your life, your calling, your way of being, your ‘style’. Lion is the flesh and the flush on the bones of your life.

Lion is play, the dinner party with friends, the outing with family, the gathering to study. Lion is enjoyment, long winding conversations, a brilliant movie. Lion is mastery of a skill and the joy of it. Full-throttle racing without thinking about shifting or corners, 20 perfectly plates entrees, being able to be generous to others from your fruits.

Lion is environment. In your home, the place of lion is the living room, where relaxation and entertainment happens. Lion is interaction and communication and community. Tiger might get the groceries for the dinner party but it is Lion that allows for bubble and sparkle and lights the candles with pizazz.  No self consciousness, simply enjoying every aspect.

When we have no worries about what we are doing we can truly enjoy them as they are happening and that enjoyment is infectious and others can feel and appreciate it too.

 

Contemplation:

Think of an area of your life where you have mastery. How did you come to that?

How do you feel when you are doing that activity? Think of an area of your life that doesn’t feel joyful. Can you extend lion into that?

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Kristine McCutcheon lives between a mountain and the ocean in Margaree, Cape Breton. She is married and on the Shambhala path as a Householder.