Brian Haycock is a writer and former cab driver in Austin, Texas. He has written a spiffy and very fine primer on practicing spirituality in everyday life. His perspective is that of a Zen Buddhist working 90 hours a week in a job that most would find stressful, dangerous, and boring. Not Haycock. In Dharma Road, the emphasis is on enlightenment and personal growth.
Like the Buddha, the author sees plenty of suffering on the streets and in the faces of old or exhausted souls who spin out their sad stories in the back of his cab. Austin's summer heat offers him a chance to practice equanimity; while driving across town in heavy traffic he realizes that the trip calls for concentrating fully on what he's doing; and there are ample occasions during the day to practice patience (one of the Six Paramitas).
Haycock writes: "Part of Zen practice is to simplify your life, to establish simple routines and carry out those routines mindfully." He decides to clean up the clutter in his life. He shares a story about the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein who was so focused on his work that he didn't want to waste any time or energy on what to wear. So this thinker had his closet filled with identical black suits, white shirts, and black ties. Most definitely, a Zen decision.
Haycock manages to integrate many Buddhist teachings into the daily routine of driving, figuring the routes, and flowing through the traffic. He offers advice on gratitude, anger, fear, and karma. Here's a passage from the book to think about:
"Driving a cab — or doing anything that involves public contact — we have a chance to spread some good feeling in the world. We want to use our working day to make the world a better place, a little at a time. We're always planting seeds. That's part of practicing right livelihood. We want to leave the people we meet — and ourselves — a little better for the experience."
