Awakening the Buddha Within _ Eight Steps to Enlightenment - Lama Surya Das [181]
ANTICIPATE ROAD BUMPS
Be aware of the tendency to give up too early because you have problems getting comfortable with meditation. Eventually you can get used to it or find a better sitting position. Perhaps you’ll find that meditating in a chair instead of a cross-legged position is better for you in the long run.
I think it’s important that new students don’t give in to the “comparing mind syndrome” of looking around and thinking everyone else is “getting it” while you are not. In group meditation, it sometimes seems to the beginner as though everyone else looks like a Buddha while you’re sitting there feeling distracted out of your mind. In fact, they may very well be distracted too; even the leader in front may be struggling with distraction or sleepiness. Why compare? Each of us is like a flower in God’s garden, blossoming in our own time and in our own way, each in different seasons of our physical and spiritual life. Each of us has been given a special gift—just for entering. So remember, you are already a winner.
When we start to practice Buddhism, it may not be exactly what we expected. Try not to be easily swayed if it doesn’t always go exactly as planned. The spiritual path is not just a straight ascending road to happiness; there are many bumps and rises and dips on the road. Things may get more difficult before they become more coherent and tranquil. A great deal depends on what you’ve been ignoring in yourself. Some things inevitably must come up in order for you to know yourself and free yourself.
The spiritual path isn’t always a joyride; it can be like a roller coaster. Don’t stop with the cheap thrills—go for long lasting fulfillment. Stick to it through the rainy days and the barren deserts and the feeling of being stuck on a plateau of development. It’s often said that the brighter the light glows, the deeper and darker the shadow becomes. The shadows are always inseparable from the light. They come from light; they are light. Constancy and perseverance pay off. Furthermore, life is much like photography: You use the negative to develop.
On the spiritual path, we are unraveling the tight straitjacket that is the cocoon of ego. We are threatening ego’s dominion over us. It’s like when we squeeze a wet bar of soap and it suddenly squirts out of our hands. Ego is a slippery fellow, intent on survival at all costs. If we don’t squeeze it, it’s glad to just sit there as ruler of our domain. When practice heats up, the ego can become like the squeezed soap bar, and things can become a little confusing. That’s when we really need to maintain the bigger perspective that is such an important part of the process. It is during these times that sangha practice, spiritual friends, and experienced teachers can be most helpful.
USHERING IN THE FUTURE
Whatever you can do or imagine, begin it; boldness has beauty, magic, and power in it.
—GOETHE
Each of us is like a jeweled star in the universal constellation called the greater Sangha, the complete circle of all beings. We are modern mystics—living in monasteries without walls. The entire planet is our heaven on earth. Instead of being overly dependent on anyone else, we must be the leaders and seers. We must take the lead and see for ourselves. We must pick up our meditation cushions and walk.
Here in the West, as we renew ourselves through the Dharma, the Dharma is also being renewed. We are the elders now. Let’s remember that we are the ancestors of generations to come. This is no small responsibility. Yet we can manage to wear it lightly.
The Dharma is a gift, a present we can give ourselves. As a sage of old said, “If not you, who? And if not now, when?”
The summit of Mt. Everest