The 58th lojong slogan says, “Don’t be frivolous.” And this one comes with a punch, because these days, most of us spend far too much time wasting time. Cliche as it may be, we check social media incessantly or binge watch shows. We fill the time with empty things.
When we’re not doing this, we often express frivolity in what we’re doing. Traleg Kyabgon says, “We don’t need to display every passing emotion, as if some kind of drama were going on every minute of the day.” (Which sounds like a direct condemnation of a whole lot of social media content, doesn’t it?) When we are frivolous, we feel the need to judge and/or comment on every little thing. We don’t have to do this. We could just refuse to be part of the petty drama, whether it’s on Twitter or in our own family group chat.
“Don’t be frivolous” isn’t meant to be a call to be dour, though. There’s a distinction between frivolity and actual fun. Frivolity has this escapist quality to it, in a way that is unhealthy. The answer isn’t to take everything absolutely seriously all the time. It’s to take your life seriously, enough so that you also take time to laugh and enjoy your life.
And, as Judy Lief explains, it’s not just escapist. She writes, “Frivolity comes across as light-hearted and innocent, but it is not. It is not real openness, but a form of aggression towards your own buddha nature.” When we whittle away the hours of our life, we actually shut down our opportunity to be present to who we really are. Our buddha nature, our soul, wants to surface. More than that, it wants to be embodied in us. This doesn’t happen unless we stop doing all the things we do to deny its call.
In a broader sense, this slogan also reminds us that our life deserves our intention and attention. As Pema Chodron says, “Don’t waste your precious time. You never know how long you have.”
This week, consider doing a quick inventory on how you’re spending your time. Does that align with what you want to value most?
Where is your frivolity blocking your soul work? What if you trusted what might be calling to you underneath that shallow noise?
