Saints, Lazy Bums, and People like You and Me

Sattvic workers are free from egotism and selfish attachments, full of enthusiasm and fortitude in success and failure alike. Rajasic workers have strong personal desires and crave rewards for their actions. Covetous, impure, and destructive, they are easily swept away by fortune, good or bad. Tamasic workers are undisciplined, vulgar, stubborn, deceitful, dishonest, and lazy. They are easily depressed and prone to procrastination.
(Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita)

As I read Lord Krishna's description of how different people are and how differently they approach their life's mission and their careers, I came up with the title saints, lazy bums and people like you and me. Truth is we all have our saintly moments, our periods of striving and greed, as well as times when we are lazy. I am sure that you have have your serene moments in some areas of your life - a state of perfect equanimity. I am also sure that you have your thrills your strives, as well as your egotistic and lazy moments. Fact of the matter is that different personalities come to the fore dependent on where you are and with whom you interact. You may act saintly in your church community, but then you go out and "kill" your opponents while playing tennis. Meanwhile at work, you may be somewhere in-between.

Repression is the biggest challenge for us spiritual travelers. So often have I fooled myself in believing that I was Zen in all my interactions only to observe that the demon popped out at 2 am on a full moon. Taoism can help you with that problem. Along the Tao you experience everything that comes your way with  full-intensity and complete engagement. Lust meets love, greed meets generosity, and evil meets life-affirming actions. You observe yin and yang at play and you transcend both forces in the holy now. Taoism would say that there is a time for serenity, a time for strive and a time for laziness. Along the Way we welcome everything. Life comes our way, we embrace it, deal with it and digest it. Along the Way we let go of the old baggage while the new one just doesn't stick.