This is going to be a two-part article, discussing how we may enter the spiritual path with effort, and how we eventually reach a point of effortlessness.
We can express this in another way. We can say that at first, our hearts feel completely closed, and we feel disconnected from those around us. As we work on opening our hearts, we realize that loving-kindness comes more naturally, until we eventually feel connected to everyone and everything.
What the author shares here are his own, humble opinions and experiences. The experience or opinions of other readers may differ. As readers, please feel free to share your thoughts or experience in the comment section - it would be great to hear and learn from you.
What we want to understand by the end of the second article, as that undiscriminating virtue is not an 'act' that requires any effort. It happens naturally when we are equipped with Self Knowledge. All we have to do, is check up!
Needless to say, this brings us tremendous suffering. Over and over we reap the fruit of our non-virtuous actions. We go on like this, until our suffering becomes unbearable and we realize that this simply does not feel right.
At this point, we realize that we want to do something about our suffering. We realize that our non-virtuous lifestyle does not bring us or others happiness, and we want to change it. So, we look at what we can do to be more decent human beings.
It differs from one person to the next. One may make an effort of going to church more, another will make an effort to read some spiritual material. Some of us will try to meditate and investigate our minds.
Whatever it is that we do, we shall probably get the feeling that it is very difficult to change. We may even think that it is impossible to change... but it is not.
As with anything in life, when we invest our time and energy into something, we get better at it. Especially if our intentions are clear. Like this, it goes both ways. The more often we drink beer, the more beers we are eventually able to drink. Also, the more we go jogging, the longer we are able to jog.
As we put effort into being mindful, into meditating, into investigating the illusion of a separate self, we slowly start to see the results. We start to experience more peace and happiness. At some point, we realize that "Hey, this seems to be worth doing!" and we keep doing it.
The more we check up on ourselves, the more we renounce these false ideas of a separate self, the more we realize our connection to the Universe. We start to feel that we are deeply connected as a Whole.
Once this subtle Truth becomes clear to us, virtuous actions happen naturally, effortlessly.
This stage of effortlessness shall be discussed in the next article!
We can express this in another way. We can say that at first, our hearts feel completely closed, and we feel disconnected from those around us. As we work on opening our hearts, we realize that loving-kindness comes more naturally, until we eventually feel connected to everyone and everything.
What the author shares here are his own, humble opinions and experiences. The experience or opinions of other readers may differ. As readers, please feel free to share your thoughts or experience in the comment section - it would be great to hear and learn from you.
What we want to understand by the end of the second article, as that undiscriminating virtue is not an 'act' that requires any effort. It happens naturally when we are equipped with Self Knowledge. All we have to do, is check up!
Trying to change
For some of us, or at least in the case of the author, there is a time that we live very much 'in the world'. This means that we are driven by desires and attachments, and we are full of expectations. Our identifications are with the physical realm only, and our experience is very gross, completely unaware of the subtle realms of existence.Needless to say, this brings us tremendous suffering. Over and over we reap the fruit of our non-virtuous actions. We go on like this, until our suffering becomes unbearable and we realize that this simply does not feel right.
At this point, we realize that we want to do something about our suffering. We realize that our non-virtuous lifestyle does not bring us or others happiness, and we want to change it. So, we look at what we can do to be more decent human beings.
It differs from one person to the next. One may make an effort of going to church more, another will make an effort to read some spiritual material. Some of us will try to meditate and investigate our minds.
Whatever it is that we do, we shall probably get the feeling that it is very difficult to change. We may even think that it is impossible to change... but it is not.
A change in perception
See, we try to change our lives, and at this point, it requires a lot of effort. We feel that it is nearly impossible not to get angry, we feel that it is difficult to meditate for five minutes each day. We find it very challenging not to give someone a 'piece of our mind'.As with anything in life, when we invest our time and energy into something, we get better at it. Especially if our intentions are clear. Like this, it goes both ways. The more often we drink beer, the more beers we are eventually able to drink. Also, the more we go jogging, the longer we are able to jog.
As we put effort into being mindful, into meditating, into investigating the illusion of a separate self, we slowly start to see the results. We start to experience more peace and happiness. At some point, we realize that "Hey, this seems to be worth doing!" and we keep doing it.
The more we check up on ourselves, the more we renounce these false ideas of a separate self, the more we realize our connection to the Universe. We start to feel that we are deeply connected as a Whole.
Once this subtle Truth becomes clear to us, virtuous actions happen naturally, effortlessly.
This stage of effortlessness shall be discussed in the next article!
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| Just as the sun sets effortlessly, our natural qualities of peace and love can also be expressed effortlessly. |
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