Everyday Diligence

 I think that when present moment is experienced for what it is, there is an ability to let go of attachments, but this does not necessarily mean that one should just encounter the world with a lax attitude. This evening after meditation, our group read on Avatamsaka (Flower Ornament) Sutra a passage which describes why people hear the Dharma teachings but still behave in the same way as they have done in the past. As a reply to this question, the sutra warns against laziness, using colorful metaphors like people who try to scrape up the ocean's water using thin reeds of grass, and musicians who are deaf (!), unable to appreciate what it is that they proclaim.
   I have come to appreciate in my work how "letting go" does not entail not caring about work at all. Nobody in our company can afford to have such an attitude, no matter how much they are told not to get too stressed out over the small stuff, and all those other messages about stress management. I think that what Buddhist teachings in particular espouse is the idea of not getting out of the flow of work itself, through some self-preoccupation. If I come to work with the attitude that there is this fixed definition of success, and my day won't be 'accomplished' unless I achieve those fixed ends, then I am bound to get stuck when I realize that things rarely unfold as planned. I even have to come to work anticipating the unexpected, which will shatter my view of what success is supposed to mean on a given day.
   Another way of looking at it is to think of every moment as effort, but not to get stuck on past efforts, or use them to predict what needs to be done in the present. This mentality is often antithetical to one which tries to standardize our motions, even to the point of doing time studies to see how we can maximize our movements to achieve the most results. Contrary to this view, I surmise that diligence requires the openness to keep redefining or reframing what diligence requires in a given moment, whether it is more swiftness, greater attentions to little details,  more listening, more presenting, and so on. No two moments are going to be alike in terms of what they ask. But we can still do this kind of thing with a relaxed mindset: I don't need to apply all my past experiences or standards to what I am doing now.
   Yesterday, I heard and interview with a prominent musician about the passing away of his musical partner recently. He mentioned how one of the things that might have prevented them from collaborating on new material before the partner's passing was the past success of their music, which created a very daunting standard for them to try to equal or possibly outdo. I am afraid that sometimes I approach work with this same attitude: thinking I need to continually outdo or equal what I have done in the past, when in fact they may not even be comparable. Times change, so why would I want to hold up the same standards I had five years ago to what I am doing today?