so many of us are ruled by our thoughts, but we don’t have to be.

thoughts are a bit like little bubbles that arise and fall away. they really are quite impermanent and passing if we can allow them to just be without pushing them away or grasping after them. the pushing and pulling are how storylines are created and then we return to these storylines again and again. the thought bubbles begin to solidify and we become ruled by the storylines. we can create a lot of suffering for ourselves and others.

but with meditation, we can learn to allow the spaciousness necessary to undo these storylines, these patterns of thought. it doesn’t matter the color, the tone, the taste of these thought bubbles. we just allow them to arrive and leave.

Suzuki Roshi’s quote is a perfect and humorous expression of this practice.

~j

#thoughts #meditation #path #practice #EngagedBuddhism #Zen #JinpaLhaga