Commentary on the slogan: If you can practice even when distracted, you are well trained.

We have all kinds of situations that we have to handle in ordinary life, even states that we are not aware of. Usually, we are not particularly concerned about our existence; we are more concerned about our neurosis and our games. If we are in a very high level of uptightness, as soon as that happens there is not awareness. But we can also immediately experience a sense of awareness!

Traditionally, any chaos that came up was regarded as a shout for some kind of holiness or help, blessing, or prayer. In our ordinary, everyday life, each time something unexpected suddenly came up, we would say, “Goodness, look at that,” or we might utter sacred names. That was supposed to be a reminder for awareness. But these days, we never use the situation that way. We just use swear words in the most degrading way.

From Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness, page 86.