Meditation and Taking Classes

 After the meditation group sitting this evening, we talked about the idea that there are three kinds of enjoyment: sensuous, meditative and "true liberation" which is enlightenment. The sensuous part of enjoyment might also entail, to some extent, the ability to feel happy about one's goals and accomplishments. In the video we watched prior to the sitting, Master Sheng Yen had shared that people often become attached to their accomplishments, yet this attachment brings about a sense of dissatisfaction. After all, whatever I do accomplish, I am going to feel that there is someone else who can accomplish more than I can, and thus this can lead to a disappointment or a lack of fulfillment. I had asked the group, in light of my own journeys as a student, is there a way to look at taking courses "meditatively" as a present moment experience, without exerting the pressure to succeed or the fear of not succeeding?
  The answer is of course one can: so long as a person is in the present moment and respecting the process of doing something, then there is simply no limit to what a person can do, because one is not getting exhausted trying to "accomplish" anything. This is the meaning of some Chan statements like the way is not difficult so long as one does not pick and choose (see https://terebess.hu/english/hsin.html).  This amounts to saying that when our mind is not fixated on our reputation or sense of relative success in term es of other people and their perceptions, then our bodies and minds can be light while doing what needs doing. If I am taking a course with the unrealistic (and somewhat counterproductive) idea that I will win a Nobel Prize for giving good insights in my assignments, then everything will feel a bit burdensome to me. But if on the other hand, my focus is simply on the present moment and what I can learn based on the material at hand, then even if there is nothing tangible, I can still treat it as a valuable experience in itself. The practice itself is none other than to let go of these self referential markers which cause us to feel either "better' or "worse" as a result of what we do.
 Another aspect is to ask the question: am I taking this course with an attitude of comparison, or do I see it as a contribution to others' learning? The latter view is more relaxed, because it allows me to contribute without measuring how much I do compared with others. I also develop an attitude of doing what I can but not pressuring myself to stand out in any way. Can I apply such an approach to my upcoming online course in fall? I certainly hope to try.