Cattāri Brahmavihārā

​Learning to drop work at a moment’s notice is one of the great spiritual disciplines practiced in Catholic convents and monasteries. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux tells us that when the bell for prayer rang, she trained herself to put down her sewing without even finishing the stitch she was on. Imagine the patience and effort required to master this art of dropping work without so much as a ripple of protest in the mind! Most of us, when we are caught in something we like and we hear the call for dinner, say, “Oh, all right; just let me finish the page I’m reading.” And we probably read a few pages more in the bargain.

-Eknath Easwaran 

I’ve been reading his book on mantra and found it helpful as I have  been I sing buddho in formal and daily life practice. I stumbled across this passage and found it inspiring. I mean, how often do I linger over a task or fail to really ever put it down. Good stuff and a reminder of the spiritual treasures to be found in  reading about the lives of monastics in any tradition.