Splinter in your Foot

Reading from Tuesday January 31, 2012 yoga class

A few blogs ago I mentioned a monk named Ajahn Chah.  I googled him and found a lot of wonderful quotes and musings.  Here's three I found that spoke to me.

The Buddha taught us that to escape from suffering you use wisdom.  For example, suppose you had a splinter embedded in your foot.  Sometimes you step on a stone that presses on the splinter, and  it really hurts.  So you feel around your foot.  But not finding anything, you shrug it off and walk on a bit more.  Eventually you again step on something else, and the pain is there again.  This happens many times.  What is the cause of that pain?  The cause is that splinter in your foot.  Whenever the pain arises, you may take a look and feel around a bit, but not seeing the splinter, you let it go.  The pain recurs again and again until the desire to take it out is constantly with you.  Finally it reaches a point where you make up your mind once and for all to get that splinter out--because it hurts!  Our effort in the practice must be like this.  Wherever it hurts, wherever there is friction, we must investigate.  We must confront the problem head on and not just shrug it off.  Just take the splinter out of your foot.  Wherever your mind gets stuck you must take note.  As you look into it, you will know it, see it, and experience it, as it is. 

The essence of our practice is to watch intention and examine the mind. (attention)  You must have wisdom.  Don't discriminate.  Don't get upset with others if they are different.  Would you get upset at a small and crooked tree in the forest for not being tall and straight like some of the others?  That would be silly.  Don't judge other people.  There are all varieties.  No need to carry the burden of wishing to change them all.  If you want to change anything, change your ignorance to wisdom.

If it isn't good, let it die.  If it doesn't die, make it good.