Not Clinging to the Method Either
There are many traditions and methods of practice, and there are also stages in cultivating the mind. But if the mind becomes fixated on which method you follow or which stage you have reached, you can lose sight of the actual work of looking back at your mind right now.
Learning the teachings and putting them into practice is precious. Keep the precepts and practice diligently, but do not grasp at the method itself. Rather than comparing your practice with others in terms of higher or lower, what matters is examining what your mind is attached to right now.
Looking back at the ordinary mind is not about searching outside for some special object. It is about becoming aware of the thoughts and attachments arising right now, and seeing your own mind directly. Do not become so absorbed in the method that you lose sight of the mind it is meant to point to.
Today, even while doing a familiar practice, look back at whether you are insisting that only your own way is right. Learning and practicing, but without a grasping mind, begin again here and now.
The methods of practice are precious, but do not become attached to the method itself. Rather than comparing higher and lower, look back at your own mind right now as you learn and practice.
- There are many methods of practice.
- If you grasp the method, you lose the mind.
- Look at your mind now, not higher or lower.
- Learn and practice, without attachment.
- Begin again, here and now.