“CLARITY” sums it up
If only one word is needed to express how I feel about this journey, it’s CLARITY. It sums up everything. From seeking, I am now finding what is missing. From delusion, the fog is slowly clearing up. Having said that, it doesn’t mean that I have reached anywhere. But, the way is becoming so much clearer as more understanding unfolds. For that, I can’t express my gratitude enough to the two teachers for their tireless sharing which has cleared layer upon layer of my wrong view. I have often heard about wrong view from teachers in the past. But it never hit me so hard until teachers Tuck Loon and Lai Fun repeated in skillful ways, coming from different angles, to point out the meaning of wrong view. Strange indeed that the mind took so long to understand wrong view from a deeper level compared to what was understood superficially.
In the past, it was following instructions coupled with a strong sense of doing to walk the spiritual path. Not knowing it was craving and delusion, it followed the spiritual pursuit blindly hoping to reach an unknown idea in the future. It is through repeated listening and gathering the right information that the veil is slowly thinned out. It is still thinning out as more information comes in through the willingness to listen and practice the Way. Indeed, we can only know what we know. Hence, listening before real practice starts is crucial. Thinking we know is indeed the greatest block that stops us from making progress.
As to the benefits of walking this journey, I can only vouch for its miraculous results. When the mind changes, indeed it sees things differently. Through the change, it has impacted others around me especially my loved ones. I used to see them wrong because I was the good one, the pillar of the family. It was upon walking the Way that the mind changed to be humbler, more loving and accepting of others. Somehow, by noticing my own defilements more and more, they lose their power over `me’. The problem indeed is never outside but within each and everyone’s mind.
Simple to say but how can it be done because no amount of doing can bring about the change. So, what causes the change? All I can say is, if anyone comes to this journey, do understand that the teachers are not teaching us meditation. But through repeated listening and the willingness to continue doing so (initially it was a struggle), the understanding becomes a supportive foundation for meditation to happen organically bringing about a transformation of the mind. It is an undoing of an error that stops us from seeing reality.
The 3 Meditator’s Jobs is an understanding and not a method to undo the wrong perception. Without true understanding, change cannot happen as long as `doing’ is still in the forefront.