Friday, July 16, 2004
qzen42 feels 
Crazy
A while back, I got myself a gift in the form of Everyday Mind - 366 Reflections on the Buddhist Path -- edited by Jean Smith. The entry for July 4 really got my attention:
Somewhere in this process, you will come face to face with the sudden and shocking realization that you are completely crazy. Your mind is a shrieking, gibbering madhouse on wheels barreling pell-mell down the hill, utterly out of control and hopeless. No problem. You are not crazier than you were yesterday. It has always been this way, and you just never noticed. You also are no crazier than anybody else around you. The real difference is that you have confronted the situation; they have not. So they still feel relatively comfortable. That does not mean that they are better off. Ignorance may be bliss, but it does not lead to Liberation. So don't let this realization unsettle you. It is a milestone, actually, a sign of real progress. They very fact that you have looked at the problem straight in the eye means that you are on your way up and out of it.
-- Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English
This observation has haunted me for years. Until now, I never heard it so eloquently expressed. It doesn't mean I'm "in the club." There is no club. There are just folks who often wind up feeling the same about their journey thus far.
Breathe.
Evolve.
Laugh.
