I devote some of my morning meditations to the thought, "If an enlightened being woke up to the life that I have, how would they engage with it?" The thought is that I can't do anything about the life I have this very second - that's past karma. To deny my current reality would be counter-productive. Charting the course forward is what I can do - and I would like to do it in a way that is as close to an enlightened path as possible. So, how would the Buddha do my dishes, talk to my friends, attend my meetings, and so forth?

Buddhism proposes two primary aspects of the spiritual path, wisdom and compassion. What is the activity manifestation of wisdom and compassion? As I meditated, aware of my chores and tasks for the days, I realized that compassion manifests as service. What tasks I do, I should do for the greater good.

But what of those activities which are not clearly for the greater good, such as snowboarding? I could justify it... I could say that it makes me happy or refreshed and therefore is for the greater good... but while that strategic view is valid, is doesn't clarify exactly how much or when to engage in snowboarding.

Practical instinct tells me that snowboarding, and other recreational activities, are appropriate when I am not needed for service elsewhere. I have to be able to tell the difference - I have to be clear on whether the world calls me to make a contribution at this minute or this hour... or not.

There are all kinds of reasons to get that backwards. I could want meaning and purpose, I could want to be validated as important, and so I could create moments where I think I am needed, when actually I am not. Or, of course, I could become lazy, self-indulgent, or disconnected from others' needs and fail to provide what is needed. I could also do both - grandstanding in meetings and coffee shops, yet failing to put away the dishes for my wife.

So, wisdom protects me from that. As I develop deeper wisdom about the true nature of things - and people, situations, all forms - I can more accurately tell the moments and ways in which I am called to service, and the times when the world does not require my energies.

When I am not required for service, the first pure activity, I can engage in the second pure activity - enjoyment. Enjoyment is the connection to and appreciation for the experiences of the moment. It happens naturally in some moments, and I struggle with it in others, but all enjoyment is the activity-reflection of wisdom. When I see the characteristics of the moment, I am able to enjoy it. (There's a sidebar argument here about attachment and aversion... I need to see the characteristics of the moment with appropriate equanimity in order to enjoy it... but that's about purification of perspective - the four pure activities presume purification).

The wisdom-compassion pairing is complete, and I could stop at with the model of the two pure activities. I could even unify the two activities - always aware e of how each moment serves, and always aware of and enjoying each moment's qualities. That's beautiful, but the truth is, I'm not ready to live that way minute to minute. I need a more diversified model still to provide a framework for my daily experience.

The two pure activities almost work, but we also have a four-element (or Buddha-family) model we could work with, expanding the two views into four views. In such a case, "enjoyment" would be associated with the Treasure (ratna) realm, or the Earth element. "Service" would be associated with the Activity (karma) realm, or the Wind element. That leaves us with the Truth (vajra) realm, or Water element - the energy of intelligence and awareness - and the Connection (padma/lotus) realm, or Fire element.

The manifest activity of the intelligence of the Water realm is design, construction, engineering and production. It could be constructing ideas or documents, or putting together architecture or furniture. This realm considers and understands truth, and uses understanding to create conceptual models and organization. The manifest activity of the Fire realm is inspiring, connecting with people, building friendships, coalitions, and alliances. Essentially, the Fire realm is the energy which uses resonance (similarities) between beings to form bonds of the spirit, whereas the Water realm is the energy which uses characteristics of form to create harmonious interactions of objects.

The four pure activities then are Enjoying, Constructing, Inspiring, and Serving. There is of course a fifth subtle center activity, Judging, which allows my awareness of which of the four pure activities is most appropriate at a given moment. If I can properly Judge, and always be engaged in one of the four pure activities, then I can live this life under these circumstances in an enlightened fashion.