I am becoming like an old patch-robed monk, with the exception that I am a woman and actually have no patches! But I am making the point that being ordinary is a woefully unappreciated quality in our western lifestyle.

I live the simplest life possible. It is pretty free of gadgets and I don’t even have a flat-screen TV. What I do have is a daily life devoid of drama, whether on TV or in my own life.

Awakening is ordinary and equally unnoticed. Anyone can do it. Here is how: See how much you are suffering. That’s it. That’s the magic button that you push.

So you can say, “Yes, I am suffering from….fill in the blank.” And see that there is no way out of it. Just stay with it.

Begin to breathe more slowly until you feel yourself awakening.

Et voila! You don’t need a a teacher outside of your very own suffering. Sleeping people will lie and say they don’t suffer. I am not talking to them.

In the Era of Instant Everything, slow your life down and let life happen to you. Be ordinary and unnoticed. It can’t hurt.

Vicki Woodyard