Learning Not to Be Afraid of Things That Are Real
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
[Listen to Audio!]
 Recently I’ve been looking through a field guide on nature observation. The author, when he was a child, was trained by an old Native American. One day the child asked the old man, "Why is it that you’re not afraid of heat and cold?"
The old man looked at him for a while and finally said, "Because they’re real."
And this is our job as meditators: to try to learn not to be afraid of things that are real.
Ultimately, we discover that things that are real pose no danger to the mind. The real dangers in the mind are our delusions, the things we make up, the things we use to cover up reality, the stories, the preconceived notions we impose on things. When we’re trying to live in those stories and notions, reality is threatening. It’s always exposing the cracks in our ideas, the cracks in our ignorance, the cracks in our desires. As long as we identify with those make-believe desires, we find that threatening. But if we learn to become real people ourselves, then reality poses no dangers.
This is what the meditation is for, teaching yourself how to be real, to get in touch with what’s really going on, to look at your sense of who you are and take it apart in terms of what it really is, to look at the things that you find threatening in your life and see what they really are. When you really look, you see the truth. If you’re true in your looking, the truth appears.
This is an important principle in the practice. […] Only people who are true can see the truth. Truth is a quality of the mind that doesn’t depend on figuring things out or being clever. It depends on having integrity in your actions and in your powers of observation, accepting the truth as it is. It means accepting the fact that you play a role in shaping that truth, so you have to be responsible. You have to be sensitive both to what you’re doing and to the results you get, so that you can learn to be more and more skillful.
About the Author: Excerpted from Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s Dhamma Talk: Get Real
Latest Community Insights  |
Learning Not to Be Afraid of Things That Are Real
What does becoming ‘real people’ mean to you? Can you share a personal experience of a time that you were able to get in touch with what was real for you? What practice helps you be true? |
| Jagdish P Dave wrote: Seeing ourselves as we are and seeing others as they are is not that easy although it is liberating. We wear lenses of our desires, wants and biases to see ourselves and others.Our lenses… |
| david doane wrote: In this life, all that is is temporary, constantly changing, and uncertain; we are different yet one; we are of this planet and not on it. A big part of becoming real is to learn and accept tho… |
| Share/Read Your Reflections |
|
Awakin Circles:
Many years ago, a couple friends got together to sit in silence for an hour, and share personal aha-moments. That birthed this newsletter, and rippled out as Awakin Circles in 80+ living rooms around the globe. To join in Santa Clara this week, RSVP online.
Some Good News
Video of the Week
Kindness Stories
Global call with Jeffrey Smith!
 Join us for a conference call this Saturday, with a global group of ServiceSpace friends and our insightful guest speaker. Join the Forest Call >>
About
Back in 1997, one person started sending this simple “meditation reminder” to a few friends. Soon after, “Wednesdays” started, ServiceSpace blossomed, and the humble experiments of service took a life of its own. If you’d like to start an Awakin gathering in your area, we’d be happy to help you get started.
|
Editor’s note: Dear Friends, We often hear that it takes a village to raise a child. I feel that it also takes a village to raise an adult, and help each of us grow. The stories this week remind us of the strength of community — a Teacher visiting the grave of a student, a family helping refugees, and a husband and wife reaching out to a mother and a child at a train station. These everyday heroes all weave together in a way that helps strengthen the fabric of our communities. –Guri
