Internet Gatha

Driving a Car

Before starting the car
I know where I am going.
The car and I are one.
If the car goes fast, I go fast.
If the car goes slowly, I go slowly.

This is one of many Gathas that followers of Thich Nhat Hanh use as part of their mindfulness training.  There seems like there is a Gatha for almost everything that one can do in a given day.  Depending on my mood (or better yet, the state of my mindfulness or ego clinging), I will sometimes find benefit to these little sayings or I find them annoying like a micro-manager.  Ultimately I understand that when I am annoyed I am ego clinging, but anyways, that’s not my point.  I think about this Gatha sometimes before I start driving and find that it is helpful in keeping me a little more grounded, a little less into my music, and a little bit safer on the road.  This is of course helpful but what I really need is an internet Gatha.  A web surfing Gatha.  That is where meandering brain meets technology and I get lost for hours at a time.  I can’t think of a single instance where I went on the internet with an intended destination and didn’t end up in like five or ten or twenty different other places.  The Internet is like driving but worse.  And I always seem to end up at the same junk.  So though I am not Thich Nhat Hanh,  I will attempt to make a web Gatha for myself.  Feel free to edit your own variation.

Surfing the Net

Before I start my search engine,

I know where I am going,

the browser and I are one.

This present moment gives me all that I need.

No more searching.

Sincerely,

Ben

The West Chester Buddhist