Un-Thinking Pain

I first read Zen in the Martial Arts in the summer of 2010. That summer I had stupidly (I won’t go into details) put my hand in front of a high pressure water hose while washing a car and found layers of my skin had blown off in a matter of a second.

Now I was with my gentleman friend at the time and he loves this car with everything he has and while it felt like I had just put my hand in a fire, I looked at his car with all the suds and soap on it and told him ‘Please, don’t look at it. Finish rinsing your car’. Finally, he went back to washing the car off as quickly as possible and as he did so I quietly turned around and without looking at the damage, began to picture my smooth orange rock. I’m not sure why I always chose orange but it seems to soothes me for some reason. This rock looks like one of the many I would pick up at a beach when I was little. Its rough edges have been worn away from the rush of the water until finally it is ready for my small hands. I always liked the way it feels cold yet not wet when you first find it.

And suddenly, he’s done rinsing the car. I was so engrossed it this exercise I was able to stay calm while I waited and now I am on my way to get a bandage. This makes me think, before I had read this chapter I would have just practiced deep breathing and focusing on nothing until it was time. But I have not mastered meditation so I can only do it for so long. This is a way to meditate for longer for a junior and I am thankful I had this tool back then.