This profound writing by Pema Chodron, a wonderful and wise Buddhist nun and teacher.
What Is Freedom --
But it's not impermanence per se, or even knowing we're going to die, that is the cause of our suffering, the Buddha taught. Rather, it's our resistance to the fundamental uncertainty of our situation. Our discomfort arises from all of our efforts to put ground under our feet, to realize our dream of constant okayness. When we resist change, it's called suffering. But when we can completely let go and not struggle against it, when we can embrace the groundlessness of our situation and relax into its dynamic quality, that's called enlightenment, or awakening, to our true nature, to our fundamental goodness. Another word for this is freedom -- freedom from struggling against the fundamental ambiguity of being human.
But it's not impermanence per se, or even knowing we're going to die, that is the cause of our suffering, the Buddha taught. Rather, it's our resistance to the fundamental uncertainty of our situation. Our discomfort arises from all of our efforts to put ground under our feet, to realize our dream of constant okayness. When we resist change, it's called suffering. But when we can completely let go and not struggle against it, when we can embrace the groundlessness of our situation and relax into its dynamic quality, that's called enlightenment, or awakening, to our true nature, to our fundamental goodness. Another word for this is freedom -- freedom from struggling against the fundamental ambiguity of being human.
~Pema Chödrön
Thank you, Ike, for sending me this post.
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