Learning Not to Be Afraid of Things That Are Real
Recently I've been looking through a field guide on nature observation. The author, when he was a child, was trained by an old Native American. One day the child asked the old man, "Why is it that you're not afraid of heat and cold?"
The old man looked at him for a while and finally said, "Because they're real."
And this is our job as meditators: to try to learn not to be afraid of things that are real.
Ultimately, we discover that things that are real pose no danger to the mind. The real dangers in the mind are our delusions, the things we make up, the things we use to cover up reality, the stories, the preconceived notions we impose on things. When we're trying to live in those stories and notions, reality is threatening. It's always exposing the cracks in our ideas, the cracks in our ignorance, the cracks in our desires. As long as we identify with those make-believe desires, we find that threatening. But if we learn to become real people ourselves, then reality poses no dangers.
This is what the meditation is for, teaching yourself how to be real, to get in touch with what's really going on, to look at your sense of who you are and take it apart in terms of what it really is, to look at the things that you find threatening in your life and see what they really are. When you really look, you see the truth. If you're true in your looking, the truth appears.
This is an important principle in the practice. [...] Only people who are true can see the truth. Truth is a quality of the mind that doesn't depend on figuring things out or being clever. It depends on having integrity in your actions and in your powers of observation, accepting the truth as it is. It means accepting the fact that you play a role in shaping that truth, so you have to be responsible. You have to be sensitive both to what you're doing and to the results you get, so that you can learn to be more and more skillful.
Excerpted from Thanissaro Bhikkhu's Dhamma Talk: Get Real
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: What does becoming 'real people' mean to you? Can you share a personal experience of a time that you were able to get in touch with what was real for you? What practice helps you be true?
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7 Past Reflections
On May 29, 2016 Caroline Blackwell wrote :
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On May 26, 2016 dbracey wrote :
I agree you do play a key vital role the truth. And in order to be truthful you have to practice.
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On May 24, 2016 Alia wrote :
Beautifully said .. If you're true in your looking, the truth appears.
1 reply: Aj | Post Your Reply
On May 23, 2016 Indira Iyer wrote :
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On May 22, 2016 david doane wrote :
In this life, all that is is temporary, constantly changing, and uncertain; we are different yet one; we are of this planet and not on it. A big part of becoming real is to learn and accept those facts of life and live accordingly. Real people don't fight, deny, or ignore the facts. Real people may not be in harmony with everyone but are in harmony with life. Real people see what is rather than seeing their own thinking, expectations, prejudices. I am able to get in touch with what is real for me when I look inside to my own feelings, my own experience, my own intuition, and not just go along with what is said to be real. What I am seeing or feeling is my truth. What helps me is to accept and value my truth. What also helps me is to be open, express my truth and listen to the response of others, which process modifies my position and I learn and grow.
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