Compulsion vs. Vision

So a year or so ago, after physically surviving a train wreck but finding my sense of reality and self still completely shredded, I received immeasurable kindness from many teachers and friends. One nun, Ven. Tenzin Chokyi, told me that there's always a period on the path when your intellectual knowledge, your vision of where you're going, is so far ahead of your karma, your habitual action. You begin to realize the new person you want to be; what morals you would encompass, what actions you would undertake. And as you ponder how great this new you, this new world, is, you are startled and horrified to find that you, and the world, have continued to run in the same ruts and painful patterns. "Dharma wisdom" is developing, but the bonds of karma hold tight.

So this is the path. You get a little wisdom, you put it into practice. You fall down. Remember your wisdom, put it into practice. You fall down. Do a cleanse. Purify. Connect, sing. Binge, fall back, fall down. You just keep going.

The path is the temple.