What! Me Panic?

Thursday, July 18, 2013:

DELIVERANCE

His thoughts are calm, his speech is calm, his deeds are calm; such is the calm of one who has obtained Deliverance by Right Knowledge.

DHAMMAPADA 96

&

What! Me panic?

I have a miles to go, most certainly. However, I do find that meditation practice gives me an emotional balance I neither expected nor did I want. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not implying I’ve reached some sort of heavenly bliss where nothing bothers me, but, since I have begun this practice, I can face more adversity without panic. I sit and, when I rise, I go to work... move my hands... it just works that way. I don’t have to try. It is often said in AA that you can’t think my way into right action but you can act your way into right thinking. While I don’t disagree with this adage, I know that the action of sitting… not necessarily thinking about my problems... but just sitting with them… that often the solution percolates to the top. Meditation, for me, isn’t a passive practice. It is preparation for action… action for problems I neither know of nor do I hope to resolve. I just sit long enough for the Heart of Compassion to sink in without me even knowing it.

geo 5,408