Opposite Thinking = Suffering

In Buddhism, Buddha taught that suffering comes from opposite mind, opposite thinking. Instead of just being connected and appreciate being here, we are fantasizing about different things. But, because we are sitting here and we practice for some time, we know that this kind of thinking is not really helpful. We know that from experience, not from blind faith or listening to someone, not from listening to books, but our own experience.

So, we return to this moment. We might make it break, we might impose, and then we begin again. This is the usual process. We recognize we acknowledge, we are not here, we travel in time and space, but then we start again. We begin again. Again, we are connected to our don’t know, to our big mind, to our before thinking. And when we are connected, when we are one with the situation, then we have a good feeling. It is a happy feeling, so we are happy.

The point is with this practice, just following the teaching, we don’t need to be dragged down, we can do something, we can have some initiative. We can reflect, and apply our training, our teaching to every moment.

By Zen Master Bon Shim

(From The Kwan Um School of Zen)