Being Asked

Am I being asked? Or is my Being asked? How do I “open to what is being asked?” And what does that mean?

Last week, one of the Daily Tasks on Claymont’s Course of Study program had to do with allowing yourself to be inconvenienced. Could you catch yourself in one of those moments and instead of reacting, Act? Basically, let yourself be inconvenienced. The follow-up was to see how that felt inside.

My moment came out of the blue.

I was on my way to morning exercise. It was the last day of a weekend seminar at Claymont. It is de rigueur to not be late for a morning exercise. Especially in this case, with a guest participant leading the exercise.

What is Being Asked

So, there I was in good time, heading down the road. As I turned the corner onto Huyett, a woman flagged me. This in itself was unusual. I rolled down my window and she stuck her head in, asking for a ride to Sheetz. I told her I was only going as far as Claymont. Another car had pulled up to the corner, turning onto the road I’d just come off. She told me she’d see if they’d give her a ride.

I started on my way, but something wasn’t right. There were few cars at this hour and that one was going in the opposite direction. My inner state was open and the task of being inconvenienced pulled at me. I stopped and turned around, knowing this was what was being asked for, that I would take her all the way to Sheetz.

There she still was and as soon as she got in the car she asked for money. Her husband beats her, she’s having a bad day, can I help?

Giving and Receiving

Surprisingly, my state remained balanced and open. I would have given her cash if I’d brought any. So, I gave her what I could. I suggested we take a moment and breathe together. That I was sorry she was having a bad day. I asked her if she knew anything about meditation, that that was what I was going to Claymont for. All one needed to do was follow the breath in and out without thinking of anything else. We sat quietly and breathed together.

When we got to Sheetz I let her out. On my way back to Claymont I assessed my inner state. I was not patting myself on the back, nor tense about arriving late for the exercise. This felt like a decision that had been said “yes” to, and I was grateful.

Energetically, my “conscious labor” was in opening myself to being asked. The “intentional suffering” was in following through.

Just as the exercise began, I slipped into the room and took my seat.

What happened after the seminar was over felt connected energetically as well.

I found myself at the grocery store having forgotten I had no money or cards with me. After fumbling with an outdated electronic card, the man in line behind me offered to pay. We looked each other in the eye, he was sincere. One hand was being asked to wash the other, and so it was.