Accept the Stone

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

There is no peace outside of that which we make for ourselves. When we are at peace with ourselves and live in serene reflection, the disturbances of life are just ripples on the pond. Allow the ripples. Accept the stone. No problem.

Our world seems full of pain and suffering. People killing and maiming. People starving. People threatening other people. We might think these are about power and control or money or oil, but I think not. My sense is these are caused by people who suffer greatly. They are victims of their own thoughts and the brains that create them.

When we discover we do not have to be victims, we are free. At that moment of discovery, we realize all of our suffering is created by our mind and its need to have something to do. This is not to say that our pain is not real. If I touch the griddle at Zen Center as I did the other day, it will burn me, as it did. Yet, that is not suffering. Suffering occurs when I get caught in a web of thoughts about that incident and the pain surrounding it.

Who do I blame? Why did it happen? Shouldn't something be done to protect me from injury? These are the footprints of suffering.

If we let these thoughts go, attend to the burn, go on with our lives, no suffering.

As the public service announcements suggest, a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Allowing our mind free rein is a worse.

Practice zazen today.

Be well.