Your life is the awakened life - nothing else. Having confidence in this, embodying this, is the liberation of life. Yet despite this being so, there often seems to be a gap in our life. Even saying 'awakened life' is unnecessary and extra.
Lacking confidence, not completely believing this awakened life in our actions and reactions, in body-mind habits, makes this gap where there is none, makes a barrier between our self and our self. Being this life we are, the gap does not appear. Being this spacious functioning that is our life, the seemingly solid barrier is revealed as 'transparent', not at all a solid barrier ; it is revealed as no-barrier.
Sometimes we use the image of breaking out of a shell. Really there is no shell to break out of, and yet we create and seem to be in a shell. Being in this shell is being in hell - so we speak of breaking out of the shell. Of course, while we are in hell, living in hell is our practice. In fact, being present in hell is breaking out of hell. Another image often used is to see the Dharma as a raft to go to the other shore. Even as the other shore is right here, there is no other shore elsewhere, there is nowhere else to go to, yet it can be skillful and appropriate to speak of the Dharma raft to cross from this shore to another shore - when this shore is the habits of attachment and reactions. Nevertheless, there is no gap, nowhere else to go.
For this no-gap to be the truth of our life, we have to manifest no-gap in our functioning, in life. Being this moment, there is no-gap, no barrier.
Looking closely, we can see some of the ways that we make barriers, make gaps. In the midst of this seeming barrier of habits we have our opportunity, our practice effort. Then holes may appear in the seeming wall ; there are 'pecks' in the shell, some little, some big, resulting in the dropping away of any gap between our life and our life.
If this barrier of no-barrier is so for us, we need to pass through it ; body-mind needs to drop away.
In sitting and being bodily present, body mind present, we are enabled and supported in practicing with body-mind habits that arise, enabled to see them in the spaciousness of this moment of life rather than being caught up in them or believing the bodily emotion-thought habits as the whole truth.
Sitting is being present, inside, outside, this moment flowing.
Body-mind presence allows body-mind dropping away. This is exactly life.
'No Gap'
By / Elihu Genmyo Smith
Salam,
Cherine
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