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When we take the one seat on our meditation cushion we become our own monastery. We create the compassionate space that allows for the arising of all things: sorrows, loneliness, shame, desire, regret, frustration, happiness.
Spiritual transformation is a profound process that doesn’t happen by accident. We need a repeated discipline, a genuine training, in order to let go of our old habits of mind and to find and sustain a new way of seeing. To mature on the spiritual path we need to commit ourselves in a systematic way. My teacher Achaan Chah described this commitment as "taking the one seat." He said, "Just go into the room and put one chair in the center. Take the seat in the center of the room, open the doors and the windows and see who comes to visit. You will witness all kinds of scenes and actors, all kinds of temptations and stories, everything imaginable. Your only job is to stay in your seat. You will see it all arise and pass, and out of this, wisdom and understanding will come."
–Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart
from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book
posted in: Read this Daily Dharma on tricycle.com
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I like the idea that our job in meditation is just to take the one seat. Nothing fancy or complicated, we don’t have to achieve Nirvana or sit completely still. Just sit.
Btw, it would be awesome if you offered e-mail subscriptions. I have an easier time keeping up with those at this stage in my life (she says, feeling weird because she’s not old or anything, just having a hard time keeping up with an RSS reader right now).
Hi Ruth – simple, doable and user friendly instructions. It has appeal doesn’t it. re subscribing by email – I am still trying to work out how to add that to my site – in the meantime if you email me at info@transformative.com.au with your email address I can subscribe you via RSS and you will get the feed in your inbox like email – if that works as an idea for you.
Sounds good, I’ll send you an e-mail.
I set up my feed e-mail through feedburner, then used the link in the html code they gave me for the link on my site. It was kind of hard to find, though.