What I think , what I say, what I do is my only true continuation.
Brother Phap Luu
Hmm! I heard those words spoken today in a lovely dharma talk from Plum Village. (See link below) . And I was reminded of a discourse, not sure from what sutra or text, that I once heard translated by Thich Nhat Hanh as:
My actions are my only true belongings.
I cannot escape the consequence of my actions.
My actions are the ground on which I stand.
Many of us are driven to succeed...to achieve and gain, to get ahead. We call this our ambition, our drive but is it what we really want? If we after years of great effort and struggle finally find ourselves surrounded with all the material abundance in the world, all the prettiest most successful people, recognized as being number one in our chosen field...will we be happy? Really?
How often do we actually stop and look deeply into the path we are on to see if it is taking us to where we really want to go? If we did, we would likely see that our misguided efforts may actually be bringing us down the path of suffering, rather than the path of happiness. You see, all the things we are grasping for and clinging to...will never last, they are like grains of beach sand sliding through our fingers. We cannot hold onto them no matter how we cling...like all things in this material world they slip away. When we reach the end of our life span's and someone asks us what we achieved in this incarnation, we will proudly open our palms to show them , only to discover that they are empty.
We need to keep our worldly ambitions in check. We need to ask ourselves again and again: Do I want to be number one or do I want to be happy?
When we are pondering what it is we truly want from Life, what we want to achieve in these bodily forms, and what our deepest aspirations are ...we should keep Br Phap Luu's and Thich Nhat Hanh's words in mind. All we can truly leave behind, that which we can say belongs to us, are our thoughts, our words, our actions. It is the only thing we truly own. The only ting we can pass on.
I think I finally get that and that is why I am on this crazy mission to share what I am discovering with my Self exploration, with any progress I make in getting to know my own mind better. To others...what I do here is "absolutely nuts."...but to some deeper part of me it feels so right. I, as this "little me", don't understand this compulsion I have to share like this...with my words and videos. So many times I catch myself agreeing with that opinion, "This is absolutely nuts! Look at all the time and effort you are putting into this...and what are you getting from it? Definitely no wealth, so little recognition. Why?" Yet, here I am again and again. My aspirations is to learn and therefore teach...so the action I feel compelled to undertake is write and speak about that which I am learning. I am leaving my thoughts behind in words and speech. It is my continuation. I am fulfilling my greater aspiration and enjoying every minute of it, hardly concerned about the outcome. In this moment, right here and right now, I am guided to follow my deepest aspirations. How can that be wrong?
Hmm! It may seem absolutely nuts to anyone who looks on and even to me at times....but there is something coming from my deeper Self that keeps telling me to sit here, to write, to speak what I am learning. To the Deeper Self...this is not absolutely nuts, it is "absolutely right" ( Right thoughts, Right speech, Right action and Right effort!)
All is well
Plum Village (June, 2019) No Where To Go, Nothing To, Do/Business Retreat, Brother Phap Luu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9m7oZlH2Lw
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