Trekking any spiritual path is a balancing act. As you gain effort and mastery, you also gain ease.  That means that while you may work harder, the effort will come more naturally.  While you will certainly encounter new distractions—and who does not?—you also have the means to overcome them. 

Do not be discouraged.

There is always a new moment in which to experience living kindness.

–Donald Altman, from Living Kindness (Inner Ocean Publishing)

Rapid technological advances. Increased wealth. Stress. Stable lives and careers come under the pressure of accelerating change. The twenty-first century?  
No,
the sixth century B.C.E.—a time of destructive warfare, economic dislocation, and widespread disruption of established patterns of life, just like today.
In conditions similar to ours, the Buddha discovered a path to lasting happiness. His discovery—a step-by-step method of mental training to achieve contentment—is as relevant today as ever.

Putting the Buddha’s discovery into practice is no quick fix. It can take years.

The most important qualification at the beginning is a strong desire to change your life by adopting new habits and learning to see the world anew.
Bhante Henepola Gunaratana from “Getting Started ,” Tricycle, Fall 2001

(ahh history just continuously repeats itself ~John – but you don’t have too)

We’re All in the Same Boat

We’re all in the same boat.  Born as we are in this human body, we can’t escape the blessings and tortures of the human brain.

From our first breath, we yearn for love and understanding in the most complicated ways imaginable.  We find it most satisfying as we learn to give it.  The ability to do this comes from acceptance of our frailties.  By understanding the conditions of our own lives, we accept the conditions of others.

Compassion is not condescension, but a leveling of the playing field, a recognition of yourself in others and an acceptance that their stress is your stress, that their happiness is your own. The gulf between us all is imaginary, born of insecurity and fear.

- Stephen Schettini, from “What to Expect When You’re Reflecting,” Tricycle, Fall 2008

I have not been  in an altruistic space the last few days, although the thought below has been an ever present whisper among  my own self absorption.
My body is tired,  my lower back has been out for several days,  sleep has not been easy for over a year, the workload has been pressure filled and family life has been, well, complicated.  I do not want to sit with any of this; I just want some relief.  I just want to return to a sense of comfort.
I’m not beating myself up over it, but I’m not pleased either.  So for right now I just remind myself through teachings and readings . . . and remembering the universal compassion which is at work even when I do not feel it – even while avoiding my shit.
Eventually I’ll stop avoiding, but for now I just feel like bitching . . .
~ John

When we’re afraid, the mind tends to dart away instead of diligently and deeply entering the fear.  It gets confused and thinks, “Let me take care of myself first,” as if it weren’t responsible for the whole world.
Part of what zazen—sitting meditation—does is to help us settle down into gentle, unswerving attention and peel away that false sense of separation.–Bonnie Myotai Treace, from “Rising to the Challenge,” in the Spring 2003 issue of Tricycle

Human Nature – so complex. . . especially the personality/mind.  This translation by Sogyal Rinpoche really spoke to me recently and I have gone back to it several times (along with an article about the dangers of meditation – these two writings are a good balance – so I ‘ll publish the other one next  time)  For now enjoy this analogy.
~John

Rest in Natural Great Peace

–Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (HarperSanFrancisco)

The perfect teacher is the one who is front of you.  It’s a real relationship, not an objective measure of who is the best. You may learn more from a teacher who has faults and who practices with them.Dairyu Michael Wenger, Tricycle Winter 2004

Just as energy can be used for many different purposes, so can pure existence be experienced in relation to any phase of life—anger, hatred, or jealousy as well as love and beauty.

Every human action must be carried on through the ego, which plays a role comparable to that of a pipe or channel through which energy is conducted for different uses.

We usually think of the ego as a kind of constant, unchanging entity. In fact, however, it is simply a succession of physical and mental events or pressures that appear momentarily and as quickly pass away.

–Katsuki Sekida, from A Guide to Zen (New World Library)

Just reflecting on my stream of thoughts this morning
~John

When I  take the time  to focus on my breathing, I  begin to pay attention.

When I pay attention it often leads me to being mindful of myself and my surroundings.

When I am mindful of my perceptions and surroundings I become less attached.

When I am less attached to my perceptions and judgments, I often see that I have more choices in my life.

When I have choices I tend to be more open and receptive to things as they are.

When I experience openness, compassion arises within me.

When I allow compassion to arise,  I move beyond myself.

When I move beyond myself,  I am resting in Grace

The highest good is like water.
Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive.
It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao.