Lotus of the Heart > Path of Spirit > The Futility of Spiritual Tripping

 
 

The Distraction of Spiritual Tripping

Apr 12, 2021


The Grace of Solitude

'The Grace of Solitude'

What we really, truly want is not something to be found in spiritual experience. We really want something pursuing spiritual experience distracts us from. What is that?

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David Chadwick, in Thank You and OK! sharing a humorous moment with his teacher, the late Shunryu Suzuki -


Once when I was driving Suzuki Roshi to Zen Center from Tassajara [in California], after we'd stopped at the original Thunderbird Bookstore in Carmel Valley and he'd had three cups of coffee and me two, we got back into the car and I was all jacked up and driving down the road and I said, "Suzuki Roshi, may I ask you a question?" and he said "Yes," and I proceeded to beg him to tell me what it is that I should do to understand reality, to get enlightened. I told him that I was totally dedicated to the Way and that whatever he told me, I would do, no matter what it was. I went on and on making sure that he was thoroughly aware of my sincerity and devotion. I turned to him for an answer. He was sound asleep.

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Snoozing ... a befitting response ...

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*(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2021

*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse. The book is a collection of poems based on wisdom traditions, predominantly Christian, Buddhist, and Sufi, with extensive notes on the poetry's teachings and imagery.

 

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