Behind most spiritual practices is the belief that you have to get someplace you’re not- a destination called realization or enlightenment. But realization isn’t someplace else; it’s the naturally occurring human state. It doesn’t belong to anybody. It’s who we all are. Spiritual practices also set up many pictures of what this state looks like. For example, when I described how much fear was present, people told me the fear meant that something must be wrong, because fear was an indication that I wasn’t in the proper state. But fear is just what it is, and it’s there too in the vastness of who we are.
In spiritual life there is no room for compromise. Awakening is not negotiable; we cannot bargain to hold on to things that please us while relinquishing things that do not matter to us. A lukewarm yearning for awakening is not enough to sustain us through the difficulties involved in letting go. It is important to understand that anything that can be lost was never truly ours, anything that we deeply cling to only imprisons us.
Those who awaken never rest in one place.
Like swans, they rise and leave the lake.
On the air they rise and fly an invisible course.
Their food is knowledge.
They live on emptiness.
They have seen how to break free.
Who can follow them?
We always want someone else to change so that we will feel good. But has it ever struck you that even if your wife changes or your husband changes, what does that do to you? You’re just as vulnerable as before; you’re just as idiotic as before; you’re just as asleep as before. You are the one who needs to change, who needs to take medicine. You keep insisting, “I feel good because the world is right.” Wrong! The world is right because I feel good. That’s what all the mystics are saying.
What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind.
If a man speaks or acts with an impure mind, suffering follows him as the wheel of the cart follows the beast that draws the cart.
What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind.
If a man speaks or acts with a pure mind, joy follows him as his own shadow.
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on June 17th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Finnigan’s Law: The farther away the future is, the better it looks.
Davidya’s last blog post..The Rapture
on June 18th, 2008 at 4:50 am
Awesome. I love it!
Evan’s last blog post..Aging Well
on June 18th, 2008 at 4:56 am
Off topic.
Check out this post on awakening prompted by grief. It’s great.
http://counsellingresource.com/features/2008/06/17/chop-wood-carry-water/
Evan
Evan’s last blog post..Aging Well
on June 18th, 2008 at 7:34 am
Hahaha … this is awesome! Puppetji has just found a new follower.
Irene | Light Beckons’s last blog post..Love Affair With Spirituality
on June 18th, 2008 at 11:45 am
@Irene Puppetji is great. A friend of mine pointed me to him over a year ago. I forgot about it until Davidya mentioned him in a comment.
@Evan Glad you love it! I will check out the link you left.
on July 13th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Hi Tom, I found you through Slade’s blog and have been reading and enjoying your posts. Puppetji is great — very funny. I’m subscribing and look forward to reading more! Gratefully, Jenny
Jennifer Mannion’s last blog post..10 Things That Made Me Happy Today