Agents of Confusion

To probe into your roots:
The ignorance and confusion are you yourself.
The preconceptions which are yourself
Are envoys and agents sent by yourself.

Drinking the Mountain Stream:

Songs of Tibet's Beloved

Saint, Milarepa

~

Agents sent by myself… If I’m confused or ignorant; my words, my thoughts, my ideals and everything about me sets up a vibration… a mood… an attitude that projects to others. What is meant by ignorance by Milarepa? I know deep down that he’s talking about being uneducated as much as about being unaware. Unaware of myself as well as how my actions affect others. My attitude determines how my thinking is put into actions that reinforce these beliefs. In AA we say that we can’t think our way into sobriety but we can act our way into it. Unfortunately, many mistakenly suppose that this means that our actions preempt mediation. This happens because it is also supposed that meditation is about sitting in the lotus position and thinking about our character defects and hoping to change them through introspection. Probing into our roots in a manner that is most productive to me has more to do with mindfully bringing my motivations to light without judgment; looking at myself from a perspective free of preconceptions. The more I am successful at this the better able I am to see others in the same light with compassion and understanding.

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