“One
definition of practice is the willingness to be with our life as it is. But
this is a difficult concept to comprehend: that practice is not about having a
particular state of mind, such as calmness, or being free from problems. Furthermore, understanding this intellectually is very different from
understanding it with the core of our being.
This
is not to deny that through practice we will, in fact, experience more
equanimity, and that problems will not seem so burdensome. But, ironically,
when we demand that life be a particular way it almost guarantees the opposite – a continuing state of unease
and dissatisfaction.
Here’s
something to consider: Can you imagine the possibility of having anxiety and
not being anxious about it? Or having depression and not being depressed about
it? In other words, can you imaging feeling discomfort without trying to get
rid of it? The question is, how do we learn to live in this way? There is no
easy answer, but the key is to learn how to welcome – with
curiosity – whatever our life is in each moment.” E. Bayda
Photo: Keith Ladzinski http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/ |
No comments:
Post a Comment