“You’ve been on the spiritual path for 40 years. What have you learned?”
“I’ve learned that there is nothing to be done.”
“Ah, but if you hadn’t been on the path for 40 years, you wouldn’t know there’s nothing to be done!”
It is hard to convince earnest students that it’s all there, inside, and nothing has to be learned or accumulated. Being earnest, we want to make a special effort, and that effort can be self-defeating. Once the habit energies are put aside, only Wisdom shines through, but the habit energies and tendencies that develop from them cover the inherent wisdom.
Clinging to the habit energies (an addiction hard to break) is self-clinging. The Buddha said that suffering is caused by self-clinging, which causes greed, anger, and delusion. Look at your troubles and decide if they, ultimately, aren’t caused by over-concern with self. We can’t see the forest if we concentrate on one tree. When people write me of their problems, I usually note that all the sentences begin with “I.”
Dwelling on the past, which is easy to do, is self-clinging. Living in the present, with gratitude, is rare. When we know Who and What we are, it is not difficult.
