The 52nd lojong slogan instructs us, “Don’t misinterpret.” This simple slogan has six specific teachings, the first of which is about patience. Pema Chodron explains it as choosing to have patience when we confront challenges. Today, we’re going to discuss the next two. At the heart, they both teach us to savor the good.

First (er, second really), is don’t misinterpret yearning. Sometimes what we yearn for is not what we need. For me, this usually involves cake. Or cookies, or brownies, or really any baked good containing copious amounts of sugar. I yearn for it even though it doesn’t support my health. (Sometimes it supports my joy though and that is worthy!) I don’t know what shape your yearning takes, but you probably do. Traleg Kyabgon describes it as being curious about the wrong things. Other teachers mention the yearning for wealth or status. The goal here is to find not what your cravings long for but what your soul longs for, and follow that instead. Do the thing that will actually sustain you. Get less interested in the rest of it.

Second, don’t misinterpret your excitement or enthusiasm. We can get very enthusiastic about empty entertainment for hours on end, but that’s not the kind of enthusiasm that will always bring us life. Traleg Kyabgon quotes that old parable about licking honey from a razor blade. Here again, the intention is to reorient our longings to a more centered place. It’s about savoring instead of shoveling.

Any time we talk of savoring, I think of how Thich Nhat Hanh says he loves to savor eating a tangerine. Once, he and some of his students spent an hour eating an orange. (You can hear him offer some thoughts on this here.) Savoring the good (the actual good, the soul good) brings us so fully into the here and now. And that brings us an enormous sense of calm and clarity.

What might you need to savor this week?

What might you need to get less interested in?