How Do You Need to Live?
I’m leaving on Saturday for a few weeks in Italy, which may (or may not) be the reason I sat down this morning to listen (actually re-listen) to one of Akincano‘s talks, titled: Traveling Into One’s Life.
It’s a talk that he gave at the end of a recent retreat….a “going away talk,” which is a standard part of most retreats, where the teacher suggests ways to take the meditation practice into “daily life.”
Akincano’s take is a bit different. He says:
“If your everyday life hasn’t brought you to awakening so far, then it might not be the best idea to try to integrate your awakening practice into your everyday life. It might be better to do it the other way around….to see how much of your everyday life you can fit into your awakening practice.”
He asks:
“How do you need to live to do justice to what you have found out about yourself? About the workings of your mind. About the principles and dynamics that underpin your experience? How do you need to live in your life to do justice to that?
And:
“If you want to take responsibility…if you want to live at the edge of what you know, of what you have understood….what does that entail when you go home?”
And then:
“You don’t get insights that don’t demand something of you.”
There’s more.
It’s sobering, I will admit. But I think what he’s saying is quite important, and not usually said so directly.
Let yourself take this journey. Click here to listen. (22 minutes)