4.05.2007

just be

when people start to mediate or to work with any kind of spiritual discipline, the often think that somehow they're going to improve, which is a sort of subtle aggression against who they really are. it's a bit like saying, "if i jog, i'll be a much better person." "if i could only get a nicer house, i'd be a better person." if i could meditate and calm down, i'd be a better person."... but loving-kindness--maitri--toward ourselves doesn't mean getting rid of anything. maitri means that we can still be crazy after all these years. we can still be angry after all these years. we can still be timid or jealous or full of feelings of unworthiness. the point is not to try to throw ourselves away and become something better. it's about befriending who we are already. the ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are. that's the ground, that's what we study, that's what we come to know with tremendous curiosity and interest.

pema chodron

2 comments:

bee said...

that quote is positively delicious...i think i may have to use it in the near future....

:)

thank you, mary elizabeth. i love pema chodron.

Unknown said...

I so identify with everything said here. It was like echoes from the past and the not so distant future. I think my whole life has been about making all-year resolutions and then feeling guilty when I don't follow through.