One Step At A Time
It has been four months since I started writing these daily meditations. This isn’t a particularly long time yet it is a milestone, since I wasn’t sure I would be able to continue this for even a month or so. It was my determination , and still is, to do this for a year.
There have been times when writing these has been difficult either due to time or lack of what seem like fresh or worthy ideas. Sometimes I am able to write a few days in advance and sometimes I am writing them the night before they actually post.
This idea of having a goal and then looking at it almost as if ‘well that’s a good idea but I’m not sure I can do it’ is kind of fascinating. There is the aspect of making ourselves open to first thinking of doing something. Then we need to think of something that is beyond what we are currently doing, otherwise there is no growth. Then we need to try not to be discouraged by what may seem impossible and keep on doing it.
Our practice mirrors this in many ways. When we practice we formulate an idea of improving our lives. We begin to be aware of possibilities we did not know existed. We open our minds up to considering changes that previously we would not have even considered.
Our continued practice gives us a framework around which we can take concrete measures to achieving our goal. So, we have a goal, we have a plan and next we need to get it all done.
The getting it done part is hard, especially when we want so bad to achieve our goal. It can be difficult to look at our lives as actually changing when we only look at them from the perspective of one day at a time. Sometimes the distance between formulation of goal and achieving the goal can seem impossibly long.
Daily we may not see any change but gradually over time an accumulation of little changes mounts up to be a dramatic and noticeable change. It is hard to have the patience to be patient.
“Hell, the region of hungry spirits, and the region of animals, that is, the three evil regions will be eliminated. The sufferings of birth, old age, disease and death will gradually be eliminated.” (Lotus Sutra, ChapterXXV)
The four month accomplishment of writing these daily meditations began with a single post and it is by the accumulation of single posts that 120 are written. Day by day continue to make effort to eliminate the sufferings from your life so that gradually you can accumulate the joys of enlightenment in your life.
