"Some people live as though they are already dead. There are people moving around us who are consumed by their past, terrified of their future, and stuck in their anger and jealousy. They are not alive; they are just walking corpses." - Thict Naht Hahn

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Imperfect Buddhist. A podcast where we discuss present-moment awareness and incorporating zen principles into everyday life. I am your host Matthew Hawk Mahoney and today's episode is titled Returning.

There is the willful return or the forced return. Some of us choose whether we willfully bring our attention back to the present moment's razor's edge. Some don't know they have a choice or forget and are forced to return through some tragedy in life or persistent emotional pain.

Some know the return process but are frightened by all that the shining blade of truth may cut off.

We return by bringing our attention to the present moment. To our emotions, mind, body, relationships, and life as they are with a witnessing presence.

"The moment you realize you are not present, you are present. Whenever you are able to observe your mind, you are no longer trapped in it. Another factor has come in, something that is not of the mind: the witnessing presence." - Eckhart Tolle

Why do we turn away from this moment? We dissipate our energy in worries about the future and past regrets.

We do this from an illusion of control. Somewhere inside, we believe this behavior will somehow change the past or control the outcome of future events.

Perhaps we have trauma from our past that bubbles up as strong emotions, turning horrific images from our history over in our minds if we allow it. Our day turns upside down by dwelling on these pictures and feelings for too long.

At our customer service jobs at the grocery store, call center, or restaurant, we dream of when we will own that farm, thinking how much better things will be when we are released from this type of work.

We are all just temporarily embarrassed millionaires here in the United States.

We may think that we will return when circumstances are better, or our life is more stable in the future.

Whatever your life is, your life circumstances, situations, and pain, you can return. Your life is workable now, and any fantasy that salvation lives somewhere in the future is a myth and functionally impossible, as the future doesn't exist.

We cannot experience the peace that surpasses all understanding by listening to the Imperfect Buddhist, reading every Thict Naht Hahn book, or talking about mindfulness with our friends.

We must do the work ourselves and shine the light of awareness on our lives.

No book, teacher, or podcast can push you into a real connection with the truth alone. Your effortless effort must be there, and a willingness to see what is true no matter how bad it hurts.

We reclaim our true identity as the being who witnesses by seeing the hurt and not losing ourselves in identification with the pain.

We let go of egocentric identification with our pain, past, and worries about the future.

Yes, these waves may continue to flow, but their grip on us loosens, and we start to identify with our true identity, the one who witnesses.

There are many spiritual paths but one destination.

To return to the same place but to see it for the first time. In this very instant, we are to be in connection with life, truth, god, and the dharma. Wisdom is no longer something we seek outside of ourselves but comes from our core and intertwines as the fabric of life.

I define love thus: The will to extend one's self to nurture one's own or another's spiritual growth" - M. Scott Peck.

Equilibrium is possible for you, and love is who you are at your core.

The appeal of psychedelics lately shows people's desire to experience the truth and let go of their limiting ideas of self. Citizens are suffocated by limiting beliefs about themselves and how the world works.

Psychedelics represent the lazy American approach. The Microwave meal. Money for nothin' and your chicks for free.

Psychedelics may be a starting point for some people whose egos are so thick that they need a swift kick in the ego-identified ass, but they don't offer a long-lasting solution or prolonged connection with reality.

"The way is originally perfect and all-pervading. How could it be contingent on practice and realization? The true vehicle is self-sufficient. What need is there for special effort? Indeed, the whole body is free from dust. Who could believe in a means to brush it clean? It is never apart from this very place; what is the use of traveling around to practice? And yet, if there is a hairsbreadth deviation, it is like the gap between heaven and earth. If the least like or dislike arises, the mind is lost in confusion. Suppose you are confident in your understanding and rich in enlightenment, gaining the wisdom that knows at a glance, attaining the Way and clarifying the mind, arousing an aspiration to reach for the heavens. You are playing in the entranceway, but you are still short of the vital path of emancipation.

Consider the Buddha: although he was wise at birth, the traces of his six years of upright sitting can yet be seen. As for Bodhidharma, although he had received the mind-seal, his nine years of facing a wall is celebrated still. If even the ancient sages were like this, how can we today dispense with wholehearted practice?" - Dogen

Adopting a practice that we repeat daily can help root us in our return. For some, it is Zazen; for some, it is silent prayer or mindful walking in the woods.

It doesn't matter what practice or tradition the method is tied to, only that it encourages a return to our core and silence. Some practice traditions are better than others at guiding students on the path of mind disidentification.

Dogen continues:

...put aside the intellectual practice of investigating words and chasing phrases, and learn to take the backward step that turns the light and shines it inward. Body and mind of themselves will drop away, and your original face will manifest. If you want to realize such, get to work on such right now.

Well, you heard the man! Lets set aside our thinking for a while now and be present in our bodys, minds and lives. Can you do it for ten 5 minutes??

Alright, let's see. I am going to start the timer and I will let you know when five minutes is up. Alright, ready, go.

Thanks for stopping in today, and I hope you have a wonderful week filled with beautiful moments.

Bye

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