Got me thinking today

Just a bit ago, I was walking home from work, and I saw an old man on the street. He was trying to walk up the tiny incline of the curb, but somehow lost his balance and began teetering backwards, arms windmilling wildly about, toward the chaos of the NYC street. A couple nearby witnessed this as well. The woman gasped and covered her mouth, pointing. The old man ended up regaining composure and continued to walk, a little sheepishly and embarrassed and no doubt frazzled. But what bothered me was that in the maybe three-second period in which this entire episode happened, I couldn't do anything but stare. I felt foolish and useless. What if he really did need help? I couldn't even react fast enough.

Maybe this has to do with the crippling Bystander Effect, but there weren't that many people around at the time, considering this is New York City. I just felt sad that accidents and other bad things happen everyday that people can't escape because of the nature of the human brain. We need time to process occurrences and then our own reactions.

Or maybe my delayed response was due to the fact that I was scared the old man would reject my aid. I thought, who gave me the right to touch him if he wasn't indeed in so much trouble? I had an inner dialogue within a millisecond, and I chose not to do anything.

Anyway, on a lighter note, I came across the following quote during my work today. I liked it.

To enjoy anything, we cannot be attached to it.  What we usually try to do is capture any joy that comes our way before it can escape.  We try to cling to pleasure, but all we succeed in doing is making ourselves frustrated because, whatever it promises, pleasure simply cannot last.  But if I am willing to kiss the joy as it flies, I say, 'Yes, this moment is beautiful.  I won't grab it.  I'll let it go.'  And I live with a mind at peace and a heart untroubled.  Pleasure comes and goes.  When it goes, we don't need to cling to memories of the past happiness or dwell on when it may come again.  When we turn to the past yearning, we are running away from the present.  When we propel ourselves into the future in anticipation, we are running away from the present.  This is the secret of the world's spiritual tradition called detachment:  If we don't cling to past or future we live entirely here and now, in 'Eternity's sunrise.'

 -Eknath Easwaran, spiritual teacher and developer of Passage Meditation