Dharma Gates Are Boundless

I've heard it said that John Cage once observed (and I'm paraphrasing here, this is not a quote) that he'd learned that anytime he saw something that wasn't beautiful, he could look at it and wonder what it was that wasn't beautiful about it, and eventually he would find the beauty.  

The question, "What's not beautiful about this?" quickly becomes "What is it about this that I don't find beautiful?," and then it quickly becomes apparent that the beauty, or lack thereof, is not in the object observed, but in the mind of the observer.  Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

This doesn't just apply to beauty.  Regarding boredom, Cage advised that if you found something boring for two minutes, then try it for four minutes, and if it was still boring, then try eight minutes, then 16, then 32, and so on.  With enough time, the boredom will drop away.

Most people who practice meditation, or at least those who've attended longer retreats or sesshins, already know this.  There are no boring moments or boring events, there are only bored observers, and if given your full undivided attention, without regard for entertainment value, or beauty and the lack thereof, then, yes, even watching paint dry can be interesting.

This same kind of whole-hearted attention, if applied to anything, can transcend the limitations of the phenomenon observed.  Consider the tedium and frustration of being stuck in traffic.  What is it that's so aggravating? Is it really the traffic, or is it you?  Observe your emotions and reactions, realize that you're going to arrive at your destination when you get there whether you torture yourself with frustration or not, and the impulse toward road rage starts to melt away.

Everything we encounter is an opportunity to stop, step back, and examine what we're observing and how we react to it.  Everything gives us an opportunity to see things as they are, without discrimination or distinction, without the framing narrative of our own minds.  Taking this approach provides us with endless opportunities for practice, boundless opportunities for realization.  Dharma gates are everywhere.