Study What Is, Not What Should Be (a Postcard from Ulysses to Telemachus)
Do not make the mistake of becoming somewhat conscious, initiating an action, and letting go. The fall does not happen like that. We have to learn to quicken our awareness, allow our actions to happen, and remain aware so that we could actually do something else at any moment. A great way to learn freedom: keep asking yourself searchingly if you can do something else right now. You reach for a goblet of wine. STOP. Ask yourself, “Can I do something else? Does some idea have me in its iron grip? Have I let the clear springs of the heart-mind become murky with sediment of thought, the dark mud of ideas, the brackish slime of habit? Have I forgotten my surroundings? Do I fill the space between Heaven and Earth? Will I act spontaneously or will I try to control myself?” Before you even begin to reach, ask these questions and notice what changes in your shoulder, wrist, neck, breathing. Does the thought of reaching for the goblet change your breathing? Does it change the quality of tone in your neck? Send a prayer winging over the turbulent waters of the heart-mind. Try saying, “NO” to the idea of reaching for the goblet to see if it allows the experience of reaching for the cup to enter. The storms begin to calm, the sediment dissipates. ATTEND, watch, with passionate engagement, with reverence and peace. Study what is, not what should be.