Just do it.
I've never been called an intellectual. Even if I received a good education I always felt that 'doing' was better than thinking, discussing and then formulating empty opinions about subjects and situations that I had not experienced for myself. My family were working class with very little money.
My sister and myself were loved and well treated and in all the years of his life, my father never hit me.
Life was simple with the only choice at meal times being 'take it or leave it,' and no third option. This background has always served me well.
However we may feel we are always deciding for ourselves what we do, how we respond to different moments, and what we make important.
Often I feel that I belong to the last generation that never thought that life should be easy.
It's just life. It's like this, now do what you're supposed to do!
My father was a carpenter in his early life and so he showed me how to work with wood and to build things that were useful.
This became my philosophy for all my life and especially during my Dhamma training.
Do what you're supposed to do. Build something that has value and is secure. Build something that will serve others.
Don't trust the mind always looking for shortcuts and easy ways. Just do what your supposed to do.
My teacher also echoed these qualities.
To meet him was a great blessing. To be accepted as a disciple was the greatest blessing. He became like my father showing me how to work with wood, building something of value, but here it was the practical aspects of Dhamma. Applying it to every moment and to every situation. Using life itself and everything it presented as the vehicle for awakening.
When it became clear to him that I was not really interested in the Abhidhamma teachings, he told me to meditate. To follow the Vipassana Dura, the discipline of meditation. There was no third option.
To have spent more than fifty years of my life with these two extraordinary men has been an incredible blessing. To be shown time after time that dedication, discipline and love are the conditions for liberation from fear and unease.
With them there was no place for excuses. Do what you're supposed to do.
If you want to be carpenter, do what you're supposed to do.
If you want to awaken, do what your supposed to do.
Like all things that have the greatest value, it is simple, though never easy.
This, of course, is my teaching to my disciples now; do what you're supposed to do and don't allow the intellectual mind to side track you.
Thinking about awareness is not the same as being being aware. Discussing love is not the same as applying it, and criticising the teaching because you have not yet understood the subtly of Dhamma will only keep you wandering in the dark.
Do what you're supposed to do.
Watch yourself. Watch this self identity (ego) scream and shout as it tries to command every situation. Experience the peace and joy as it becomes less.
Do what you're supposed to do and become a blessing to yourself, to the world and to all beings.
Offered with humility.
My sister and myself were loved and well treated and in all the years of his life, my father never hit me.
Life was simple with the only choice at meal times being 'take it or leave it,' and no third option. This background has always served me well.
However we may feel we are always deciding for ourselves what we do, how we respond to different moments, and what we make important.
Often I feel that I belong to the last generation that never thought that life should be easy.
It's just life. It's like this, now do what you're supposed to do!
My father was a carpenter in his early life and so he showed me how to work with wood and to build things that were useful.
This became my philosophy for all my life and especially during my Dhamma training.
Do what you're supposed to do. Build something that has value and is secure. Build something that will serve others.
Don't trust the mind always looking for shortcuts and easy ways. Just do what your supposed to do.
My teacher also echoed these qualities.
To meet him was a great blessing. To be accepted as a disciple was the greatest blessing. He became like my father showing me how to work with wood, building something of value, but here it was the practical aspects of Dhamma. Applying it to every moment and to every situation. Using life itself and everything it presented as the vehicle for awakening.
When it became clear to him that I was not really interested in the Abhidhamma teachings, he told me to meditate. To follow the Vipassana Dura, the discipline of meditation. There was no third option.
To have spent more than fifty years of my life with these two extraordinary men has been an incredible blessing. To be shown time after time that dedication, discipline and love are the conditions for liberation from fear and unease.
With them there was no place for excuses. Do what you're supposed to do.
If you want to be carpenter, do what you're supposed to do.
If you want to awaken, do what your supposed to do.
Like all things that have the greatest value, it is simple, though never easy.
This, of course, is my teaching to my disciples now; do what you're supposed to do and don't allow the intellectual mind to side track you.
Thinking about awareness is not the same as being being aware. Discussing love is not the same as applying it, and criticising the teaching because you have not yet understood the subtly of Dhamma will only keep you wandering in the dark.
Do what you're supposed to do.
Watch yourself. Watch this self identity (ego) scream and shout as it tries to command every situation. Experience the peace and joy as it becomes less.
Do what you're supposed to do and become a blessing to yourself, to the world and to all beings.
Offered with humility.
May all beings be happy.
Comments
Post a Comment