‘What is my true path?’ A simple zen answer might be, ‘Well, the one you’re on’. The subsequent exchange follows quite rationally: ‘but where does it go??’; ‘well, walk it and find out’. Where do decisions come from? Do we rightly bear responsibility for making them, and for receiving their consequences? The Buddha said it is as simple as ‘good actions bring good results’, loosely quoted. Yet the Dalai Lama says to have patience with complexity.
Sometimes we are ripe to make a decision, sometimes we are not. Even after having made a good decision with a clear mind, there is plenty of room for doubt to sneak in. Doubt obstructs our clarity in the moment. It is unproductive inquiry, taking us away from things. Yet the spiritual path is a path of doubting our firmly help assumptions, dissolving them, and liberating ourselves from their captivity, right? What is the difference?
It may very well be that the wisdom of today is the delusion of tomorrow. We are learning and growing. What we call anything – helpful or harmful – is a matter of our view. May we practice with such steadiness that we see ourselves as wise, yet continually look back upon ourselves as foolish.
Soten