Awakening
is more like discovering yourself. If
you have a handful of diamonds but don’t realize what they are, you treat them
like pebbles. Once you recognize them as
diamonds, you can use their precious qualities.
Becoming a Buddha is like discovering a diamond in your hand. You are discovering yourself, not getting rid
of yourself.
Don’t
confuse relaxed behavior with mind.
Today the sun is shining. It’s
not too cold, not too windy. The
circumstances for this shepherd could not be better. What happens if they change? What happens to mind if the owner sells these
goats? To know true freedom of mind, we must
meditate in order to recognize the nature of mind itself. Then we will not be carried away by thoughts,
emotions, and circumstances. Stormy
weather or sunshine, the mind stays steady.
Your
mind’s habit prevents you from seeing the emptiness of the table, and until you
can see it, the subjective perception of solidness will block your hand.
Emptiness
is like light, like sun. Although you
are thinking, “nothing, nothing, nothing”, actually nothing is everything. If you understand that this nothing is
emptiness, then wisdom blossoms.
