Are You Ready To Lose Your World?

This thought went very deep. It almost sounds like true wisdom will arise when we do nothing. However, I don't think it is a "do nothing" path at all. On the contrary, a lot of striving is necessary to develop the awareness to see that that need to do nothing to destroy our balance. As the striving continues, the intensity of work needed will reduce over time, bringing a deeper awakening. We must distinguish between the goal and the path.

On the path itself, there are two major paths that come to mind - the path of rejection and the path of acceptance. In the path of rejection, we reject anything that is not real - e.g. my voice, appearance and vibrations are not my reality. Once we have exhausted the entire space of possibilities that the mind could pose as reality, we will be able to transcend the mind and start to be. Similarly, in the path of acceptance, we accept everything as a partial reality - e.g. my voice, appearance and vibrations are all real - but only partially so. None of them captures the full story of reality. This means I can accept every idol, image or idea of reality with ease, noting that this is also a partial reality. Once the mind has exhausted its entire space of possibilities, we will again be able to transcend the mind and start to be. 

Where both these paths meet is where Seng-t'san says, "only cease to cherish opinions." By rejecting, we stop cherishing opinions. By accepting all in the same way, we cease to cherish any as higher than the other. Both paths, if practiced properly, will lead to non-attachment. But both paths have their dangers. By rejecting all that comes, I could develop anger (for instance, getting angry at those who worship images for that is not reality), and while I am superficially rejecting all, I have forgotten to reject anger within my mind. I end up becoming more of a rejectionist than anything else, unable to find peace or help others find peace. By accepting all that comes, I could develop attachment to particularly pleasing forms (for instance, confusing an image of reality for reality) and lose my balance and consider the partial reality in front of me as the only reality, and end up becoming a fundamentalist, failing to find peace myself or helping others find peace.

Finally, a story of reality. I was in the magical city of Berkeley with my wife and a dear friend and mentor. We talked about reality and the ideas shared above, and entered a zone where it was difficult to speak. We were feeling reality in the moment. Just then, a loud voice interrupted us, "Excuse me, I've been trying so long to park but cannot find a lot that has space. I and my wife have been trying to get to a football game and we are willing to park anywhere we can and get a taxi. Can you tell me where to go?" I thought our friend would quickly resolve this, as she said, "Oh, yes, I can tell you where to go."

The next thing I knew, our friend stood up heroically, and said, "I know the best place for you to park in Berkeley." Now, I was really listening. The best place to park in Berkeley is very useful to know. Looking at the man, my friend said, "Are you ready for this?" As he nodded, she exclaimed, "The best place to park is right here!"

I looked at the curb where his car was parked, and indeed, there was no red marking, or any "no parking" sign. She continued, "Get your things from the car, and I will take you and your wife to the game myself." This is the part where I wanted to jump up and clap or say "Bravo!" Of course, we tagged along to drop them. The man was shocked, and kept nodding his head, "I can't believe this is happening." I found myself saying, "Welcome to Berkeley!" My friend left them with a smile card, to widen there already wide smiles.

Reading this passage of Adyashanti I caught myself in thinking that in the poem interpretation he is conveying an opinion the very one he appeals not to cherish:).

I like the ‘game’ and here is my ‘play’: