The One with the Zen Master

Yesterday was a great day for several reasons.

For one it was one of the rare 5 clubs mania day. i had some long runs with 5 clubs and almost consistently. It was 5 club heaven. Tried to think back how long ago it was that i started this 5 club journey. I can't even remember, it was that far back. but it's definitely been at least 2.5 years of periodic training.

Several old faces popped by, and it was nice catching up with them.

The most refreshing conversation was with the zen master, in the form of Ben the poi extrodinaire.

Me: "hey ben, it's been a long time!"
Ben: "yeah, i've been away for the last 6 months. went to australia and new zealand."
me: "was it a work trip or just to holiday?"
Ben: "somewhat like holiday. we went there to do some rock-climbing, and just drove around."

Turned out both Ben and his girlfriend, who are both rock-climbing instructors, quit their jobs and packed their bags and just left. They bought a car ("cost me $800 and we sold it for $1100") and drove around and slept in their tent for all 6 months.

Along the way they just climbed up whichever cliffs fancied them and met people and just drove and enjoyed the scenery.

Me: "it must be scary to do this. there's no income coming in and just money flowing out. must have made a dent in your savings."

Ben: "yeah, but you don't really need that much money to survive. we'll start again when we come back. We'll be here for a month or two, and then we're thinking of going to france. Drive, camp and maybe get some money here and there."

Me: "you can probably earn something doing busking"

Ben: "yeah. we met a guy in new zealand who cuts christmas trees in denmark during winter. no one wants to do it because it's completely dark during winter. but he does it and he sells the trees. maybe we'll join him and cut christmas trees and get some cash. (laughs) so we'll be cutting trees in the dark in denmark!"

Ben: "it was wonderful camping out in the wilderness. it's so quiet and peaceful. and then you come back to singapore and there's so much noise. it's terrible. you've been away before, you know what i mean."

Me: "this is so grand you know. you should hold workshops on 'how to live a carefree life'"

Ben: "it's all just a choice. anyone can do it. why? are you very burdened?"

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i've been trapped in this, for lack of a better term, rat race thing for a while now.
it's a constant desire to be something more than where i am right now.

i've been conscious of it, courtesy to the little nibbets of "what are you doing?! Reflect! think! are you sure this is what you really want?" reminders i let through from my sub consciousness periodically.

i am, however, not consciously trying to pull myself out of it.

There is a struggle internally. and the buddhist part of me knows it's not healthy. It's tiring.

and i see my goals shifting. the innocent desires fresh from graduation has moved to more practical goals. whether these goals are really mine or whether they stem from societal expectations is open to debate.

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from sociology class i've learnt that there are 3 types of elitism.
pple with power, pple with prestige, and pple with wealth.

successful hawkers have wealth but no power or prestige.
actors have prestige and maybe wealth but no power.
politicians have power, maybe prestige (unless your name is bush) and lots of wealth if you work in the little red dot.

so the rat race is not just about struggling for more money.
it's struggling for some or all of all 3: power, prestige and wealth.

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we've all heard of the magic term "financial independence".
you pay thousands of dollars (or none if you attend the introductory sessions only) to listen to gurus talk about how to get financial independence so you can get out of the rat race and do what you love.

Thing is, you need time to get financial independence. and lots of planning. and lots of stress. you're out of the traditional rat race but then again it's another race you're in.

So the laws of karma arranged a meeting between me and the zen master.
and he showed me the OTHER way out of the rat race.

Just let go.

"why? are you very burdened?"

I don't know Ben. I see now that some of the burdens are my own doing. i dug a hole, stuck my foot in and claim that i'm stuck.

maybe one day i'll have the mental strength to take my foot out and start walking.