Not Certain

The Buddha said we can focus our contemplation on any of these three ideas to break into the truth of how it is and find freedom: n0n-self, suffering, and impermanence. Ajahn Chah put these into a nice set of words we can use when working with the conditions of our bodies, hearts, minds and lives - not me, not mine and not certain.

Not taking things personally has been really good work for me. "Not me" has been a wonderful mantra to follow for a long time.

Recently, "not certain" has been more effective for me to see things clearly and find peace. Even when I move to one side or another, it is still uncertain! Always uncertain! Even certainty is uncertain. The only certain thing is uncertainty. The only unchanging thing is that everything changes.

Yesterday I sat in meditation and with every thought or feeling that arose, I told myself, "Not certain!" And the relief I felt each time I said that was incredible. I've made an effort to keep this up throughout the day today and each time I think "not certain," I smile.

There are so many meditation tools to choose from. Sometimes it is difficult to know just which one to use at a particular time. Yesterday I just picked a book off the shelf, which happened to be Everything Arises, Everything Passes Away by Ajahn Chah, and it happened to show me just the right tool at just the right time. Synchronicity is how we find out which tool to use. Intuition. Asking the question, we get the answer - as long as we are listening.

The talk at the meditation center this morning was about striving vs apathy. The Buddha said that to get to the other side of the river, we should not push forward but not stay in place either. We have to stay in balance.

I have been out of balance lately in terms of my effort. Time to put forth a little more effort in my practice instead of just sitting on the cushion because that's what I do each day. There is a goal, we just need to keep it lightly in mind and not strive toward it too hard. I need to remember the goal. What is that goal then? Freedom, of course! Happiness!