Gradual Approaches

  Things can be gradual: I decide to do one thing with a calm mind that is not worried about the future outcome. The point is to keep returning to the tranquil and still mind that is not attached to wandering thoughts. Can one do this even in the midst of tightness, tension, or even the feeling of "I am not in control of my life?"

    Put in another way: do clouds affect the sky? Do they prevent the sky from "happening"? Of course not. If the sky's existence were based on clouds not existing at all, then we would all be in trouble. Under the same token, times when a person feels "pressed", or passes judgment on themselves for not being spiritual enough in those moments, are already in a kind of dualistic bind. This can only be resolved by, at that moment, returning all things to their original source, which is beyond self and other. It needs to come from dropping everything: self, this, that, wanting, craving, delusive, discursive. Don't let it become your overarching reality anyore.

      This requires space: a breath, a time to be silent. Unfortunately, the world of comparing oneself to others doesn't allow for that, and there is always tension around this. Conversely: "I won't be good enough, happy enough, unless I do this", won't suffice.