Secret Agent of Compassion here, day three of these awesome games!

Today’s mission (which I decided to accept):

Practice being fully present in an interaction with a friend. To do this, try to:

•   stay centered on your friend
•   listen without interrupting
•   focus on what your friend is saying, not on what you might say next
•   let go of judgments about you, your friend, or others mentioned in the interaction
•   ask questions to clarify your understanding

I have to admit this was a little bit of a tough mission for me because I’m mostly at home on Saturdays baking or writing or crafting…or all three.

But this morning I had to go grocery shopping. I’ve been going to the same supermarket for about four or five years now. I practically know the cashiers by name.

This morning, instead of doing the banter (How’s your day so far, ma’am?) on auto-pilot, as I usually do, I brought my focus to the young man who was talking to me.

Here’s a funny thing about practicing the Dharma. Even though you read about things and you have an intellectual understanding of things, it’s like lightning striking when you actually experience a teaching in your life.

As I stayed centered, listened without interrupting, focused on what was being said, let go of my judgments, and asked questions, he suddenly came into focus for me. It was as though my eyes had suddenly gone from blurry so-so vision, to twenty-twenty crystal clarity. All at once, he wasn’t just a teenage cashier. He was just like me.

Just like me, he was a being with hopes and dreams, who suffers the torments of samsara. Just like me, he was a being who experiences that constant vague dissatisfaction that can drive us through our whole lives, chasing after chimeras like success, or wealth, or power.

The odd thing that’s stayed with me from this experience was the topic of our conversation: how much we both dislike eating breakfast. It was a trivial, meaningless conversation, but at the same time, I saw him, really saw him. And then I saw myself, and all beings in samsara, and how we suffer needlessly.

For a moment as he walked away, I thought…may we all be free from suffering and the causes of suffering…may we all embrace happiness and the causes of happiness…may we all abide in peace, free of self-grasping.

This ends the Mission Report for Day 3 of the Compassion Games!