Practicing non-resistance

I have been spending a lot of time on trains as I commute to work and the long journey gives me ample opportunity to observe people up close. One thing that perplexes me is how tired Singaporeans seem to be. I mean, for heaven’s sake, can’t people keep awake long enough to make it home before they crash and burn? How is it possible to drift off into a deep slumber in full view of a cabin of strangers, mouth agape, breathing heavily, body slumped over? And what gets me especially riled is when these slumpers slump into my space. A heavy nudge is apparently not enough to keep these somnolent invertebrates at bay. Shooting dirty looks doesn’t work either because these subjects are only minimally conscious. I’m at my wit’s end.

Maybe Eckhart Tolle is on to something here. To resist something that IS, is to suffer. Perhaps next time, when I feel a heavy presence leaning onto me, I should simply just stand up, vacate my seat, and see them truly crash and burn…

~ by huey on July 13, 2008.