Meditation provides one way of attaining understanding and insight. However, insight into who we are does not come only from sitting on the cushion, we must also engage in life. When we engage in life there is a concentrated effort that we put forth. These moments are referred to as insights which can occur when we least expect. The insight may have been there all along and perhaps we didn’t notice. Therefore it is important to be present for whatever comes up. This is what is known as the process called mindfulness. In order for insight to occur there are usually several conditions that arise at the same time composed of non-insight components. These components are delusions, ignorance, misunderstandings, and wrong views. Without the occurrence of these complimentary elements there would be no insight. I guess you could say that our non-mindfulness components are just as important as the mindfulness piece. In fact, what they do is provide the compost for the garbage to be transformed. The two processes are interdependent, you cannot have one without the other. You have all heard me say, no mud no lotus, right? All those components make up the mud that contributes to and nourishes the blooming of a lotus flower. Without delusions and suffering there would be very little wisdom and understanding. According to Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay), “everything has to be seen in its inter-being nature; otherwise, true insight has not been realized.” When he refers to inter-being nature or inter-are he is alluding to the interconnections we have to each other and mother earth.

Most of us think that we cannot develop a Buddha nature or a Christ nature. However, that capability lies within each of us. It is important to remember that the Buddha is made of both Buddha and non- Buddha elements. Likewise Christ was made of both Christlike and non-Christlike elements. Just like you and I are made of both enlightened and non-enlightened parts. What this means is that we all have light and darkness within us. No one here is all light or all good or all dark and all bad. These parts are all interdependent in each of us. These enlightened men were our brothers, and they are still here shining light on our path guiding us home. We have difficulty accepting this process because we want to control it or have it our way instead of allowing it to unfold. There is no destination to run towards and grasp for the gold ring of enlightenment. This is a journey of experiencing each moment fully. Running towards the finish line trying to achieve the end goal you’re missing the journey. The goal is slow, and steady pace. I recently visited Deer Park Monastery and I was really struck by how slow the community moves. The walking meditations were so slow I almost lost my balance and fell over. The walking was literally placing your foot on the earth so slowly that you could feel every part of your foot touching mother earth. I giggled inside when I lost my balance during something so simple as walking slowly. It was difficult for me to slow down a process that I participate in every day automatically and intuitively. However, moving swiftly, may affect our ability to maintain balance and therefore miss the nuances of our life experiences. What’s more if we move quickly, we will also miss the insights that are present. In fact, since that day I have become more aware that my swift movements contribute to my own imbalance and increased accidents when moving about. For me it is important to be more mindful while walking and remember to ask Thay to walk with me. Do you all remember, the childhood story of the tortoise and the hare? The slow, steady ease of the tortoise overtook the swiftness of the hare to win the race. That is what we are talking about here. A slow, steady, easy pace that takes us mindfully through life one step at a time.

Thay refers to the process of slowing things down as aimlessness. Aimlessness in Buddhism means “wishlessness.” As I described above you do not put the end goal in front of you and run after it, why because it is already there within you. Aimlessness is one of the doors of liberation. Aimlessness assists us in realizing non-attainment. This means not running after things frantically, looking for whatever we can to fill the empty spaces in our lives. You all know what I am referring to, those things that we are all attached to, our attainments. For each of us this may be something different, such as fame, sensual pleasures, special love, riches, profit, power, position, car, home etc. If we are attached to these goals, we may never experience the freedom and happiness of just being. As a result misery or suffering may ensue. Therefore it is important to stop the negative and allow the positive element of healing to take place. The purpose of our practice is not to avoid life, but to fully engage in life’s experience which demonstrates that happiness is possible now and in the future.

Some people chase after enlightenment with great fervor. There are those of you who grasp at meditation as though it is the answer to all your problems. Do not meditate to attain a goal sit in meditation to enjoy the light and it brings into your life and the joy it brings. Although it may be one effective way to slow us down it is not the only way. The road to enlightenment is a journey not a destination. What we all fail to realize is that enlightenment is inside us all. We cannot run after something that lies within. We merely need to slow down the process and go within because it waiting for us. As some of you have heard me say many times, it always begins and ends with you. Or as Thay so eloquently states, “the only way out is in”. The road to enlightenment or nirvana is slow and steady. Running precludes our ability to take advantage of all the miracles available to us along the way.

If we are always trying to be someone else or do something different, we are not appreciating who we are. We are dissatisfied with self and things around us. Practicing aimlessness teaches us about remaining still. We merely stop running after more. Some of us are never satisfied with what is. There is always one more thing to acquire to prove that we are worthy or good enough. It is important to remember that the things that we are running after we already have, we merely must change the message to go inside and recognize it.

Consider this, if there is no object of attainment and nothing that needs to be attained, what are we all doing? According to Thay there is no such thing as attainment that is independent from all other realities. Therefore, attainment is nothing more than the condition caused by the manifestation of certain causes and conditions. If we consider that last statement, this question begs answering. What are we all running towards and grasping for? I would like you all to take a couple of minutes and contemplate that question.

Grasping onto thoughts/signs is like grasping onto a cloud in the sky before the wind catches it. We all know we cannot catch a cloud. Remember perceptions are illusions, that we grasp as a message that tells us we need something more. We grasp for shadows of reality trying to catch sensations, objects of happiness, attainment, or success. Maybe we grasp after someone we love or cannot live without or nirvana. Or perhaps we grasp onto who we believe we are, a separate self- identity. Maybe we are afraid of losing our identity, who we think we are, so we hang onto this perception tightly. If we can stop the search and look deeply within, we may see that the true nature of who we are is in-graspable and sign-less. The insight that we will glean from this is that grasping only makes us suffer. This is the insight of aimlessness. We will no longer have to run after something outside of self. Now wouldn’t that be peaceful? Let’s all make a commitment to work on being aimless so that we can go within and appreciate what is.