TWELVE STEPS
AND
TWELVE TRADITIONS
STEP EIGHT
(pp. 81-82)
… we can now commence
to ransack memory for the people to whom we have given offense. To put a finger
on the nearby and most deeply damaged ones shouldn't be hard to do. Then, as
year by year we walk back through our lives as far as memory will reach, we
shall be bound to construct a long list of people who have, to some extent of
another, been affected…admitting the things we have done, meanwhile forgiving
the wrongs done us, real or fancied. We should avoid extreme judgments, both of
ourselves and others involved. We must not exaggerate our defects or theirs. A
quiet, objective view will be our steadfast aim.
~
Chogyam
Trungpa refers to our direction as post-meditation practice. It is all about "carrying
the path". In other words, he means, whatever happens in my life is
included in the journey.
It
doesn't take much imagination to see where diseases such as liver failure or
stomach ulcers are the result of past behavior. Before I run with excessive
guilt and remorse I need to relax and understand that I was simply drawn into
the web of desire... fulfilled or denied. I stray off the path… get into the
briar patch and then struggle to get back out of the weeds. In the case of the
aforementioned diseases we learn to live in the present. It is futile to blame
ourselves or others for where I am now. Change or amends must be made… changes
in diet or treatment... if my aim is to recover. Acceptance of my disease doesn't
translate into inaction where these are concerned and neither does the fact
that I recognize I am on a spiritual path. I am on the path towards freedom
from the spider web of Maya and there are amends to make to stay out of the
bush.
geo 4,805
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