A Gift of Dharma for 1.4.10
Today’s quote comes to us from our friend and former Naropa University professor Dr. Reginald A. Ray, whom I previously quoted and wrote a little biography for here. This is it–a quote recently posted on the Dharma Ocean Foundation’s Facebook page:
When we contemplate our practice, a lot of times we think that we are going to work all kinds of things out. We are going to solve a lot of problems and our lives are going to be much better. It is more beneficial to realize that such a thing is never going to happen. It is simply never going to happen.
Things do change, but it is not always the things we want to and rarely in the way we want them to. The less time we put into thinking how great our life will be because we meditate, the better.
What does change, however, is our point of view on our problems. We continue to struggle and wrestle with our problems because that is how karma works. But, at a certain point, the struggling becomes less impressive and less compelling. It is like watching a professional wrestling match. In the beginning, you might find it interesting and engaging. But, after a while, you start to realize that these people aren’t really wrestling, they are just faking the whole process. In spite of all the shouting and yelling, and the apparent pain, there is really nothing happening here. Then it begins to become boring and uninteresting.
At the same time, you notice something more compelling which is the stillness of the mind behind it all. But it would be mistaken to think that all the ego-nonsense just goes away. It doesn’t and doesn’t need to. In fact, we begin to realize that it is the fuel for our journey and our way of connecting with other people. No ego means no path and no compassion.
