I thought it would be helpful to start this piece with some brightness. Looking at one’s attitude can be dark and foreboding especially when we live with an attitude of But…Not Yet.

Indecision, hesitancy and sloth are quite dark. These energies are like a very heavy wet blanket lain across our mind, body and true nature. We feel isolated and alienated when smothered by our laziness, uncertainty & alienation. It is those times when we are about to give up. It is when life seems impossible and without value.

But when we remember that we, each one of us, has power to decide how to use whatever strength and power we have. We can change BUT…NOT YET to energy of involvement, practice, study and offering.

We may flounder. We may struggle. We may feel clumsy. None of these states of mind need bind us to laziness, uncertainty & alienation.

• We must first ignore and drop the But…Not Yet mental attitude.

We get up even when we flounder, struggle and feel clumsy and give what we have to give.

• A helping hand.
• A handout.
• A clean-up.
• A fix-up.
• A give away.
• A kind word.

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  Then, we learn to follow Zen Master Suzuki Roshi’s admonition:

  “When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.”

• Read Suzuki Roshi’s admonition again. It is what we all need to follow.

How often do you stick in your two cents in a conversation as a way to, as they say, steal the show. At the very least we may want to add our two cents. We almost never want the other guy to outshine us. We want to be on top of the game.

So, make an effort to “burn yourself completely…leaving no trace of yourself.”

Do not identify yourself with your weaknesses of making mistakes. For each one of us make mistakes. It is inevitable. When anything is inevitable it is a lack of good sense to lament over it. Whatever is inevitable, accept it. Don’t lament over it.

Our weaknesses and mistakes are a trap. We cage ourselves with our miserable identification with our weaknesses. When we identify with being a miserable, no good person we have put ourself into a cage of guilt and misery.

• The lowest stage of egoism is to identify yourself as a wretch.

It is better to identify what is happening as an obstruction or a taint that needs to be removed and cleared up.

• Take positive action.

Do not use your energy to pity yourself or complain about others or the world.

• Obstructions and taints conceal our true nature.

The boundless field of emptiness is cluttered with obstructions and taints. We are required to purify, cure and grind down these hindrances.

IF we mess with obstructions and taints, we become unstable. The mind becomes uncertain and indecisive. When the mind is unstable and indecisive we become alienated from the Truth.

IF we act from a place of selfish interest, we wobble. It is as though we have stolen the fruits of life.

A question of mind that is useful is to ask ourselves “how does what I am about to do impact my spiritual intentions?” Of course, we need to know our intentions before we can know the answer.

These teachings challenge our conventions and tendencies – and are worth more than gold.

Practice decision-making and give up But…Not Yet. Give up the Attitude of Laziness, Uncertainty & Alienation. Use the power in you to decide to concentrate in such a manner that you drop your selfish interest.

May you be safe from harm. And free from suffering.