Monday, November 17, 2008

Just let it all be

Traditionally the Eightfold Path is taught with eight steps such as Right Understanding, Right Speech, Right Concentration, and so forth. But the true Eightfold Path is within us -- two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, a tongue, and a body. These eight doors are our entire path and the mind is the one that walks on the Path. Know these doors, examine them, and all the dharmas will be revealed.

The heart of the path is so simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are. This is all I do in my own practice.

Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. When you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing.

Of course there are dozens of meditation techniques to develop samadhi and many kinds of vipassana. But it all comes back to this -- just let it all be.

--Achaan Chah
A Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chah

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