Checking Yourself.

 After all this study and practice, have we changed for the better or worse? Either way it is progress, because if we are aware of a change…we are aware!

 We have to compare with how we felt, say, four years ago. Are our desires less strong? Are we less aggressive? Are we more aware? Do we reach out to others?

 Basically, is there more inner peace?

 If we find things are worse, traditionally they would say, “You are not practising properly.”

But, maybe ‘things’ are just coming to the surface – ‘things’ that we hoped would just go away. We need to recognise the true nature of these ‘things’, and of course that very recognition is wisdom.

 Using antidotes is like that: they are a temporary fix – for anger, apply compassion etc. But our button can still be pressed, and up comes the anger again!

 In following a spiritual path, we read and hear good words, and so we may acquire a good persona…for a while. But that inner anger is still lurking, and it may sometimes result in righteous anger. That’s okay – is long as we are aware of it. This is just the karmic past playing itself out, and we know that we no longer have to play along. Some of us have smooth roads to travel, and some of us have bumpy roads…that’s all 🙂

 Another possibility is that we are fed up with ‘playing’ at being a goody goody! It is holding us back from really feeling a situation. Anger is fine; aggression isn’t.

 Once we are satisfied that there has been a change – ‘things’ just feel different – we should celebrate that. This life has been worthwhile and fruitful. Maybe we are not enlightened yet, but we are facing in the right direction!

 With this confidence, we can reach out to others.