A Fortnightly Reflection

For a while now I have been receiving regular "Dharma emails". One such comes fortnightly on the new and full moons. It is by Bhikkhu Munindo and the verses used in this fortnightly Reflection are taken from, 'A Dhammapada for Contemplation'. Thought that I would start to post them here as well......

NEW MOON - Monday 6th December 2010

There is no tension
for those who have completed their journey and have become free from the distress of bondage.

Dhammapada verse 90

There is a path and we have a journey to take. The goal is freedom from the experience of being bound by habits. If we try too hard, grasping at the idea of the goal and bypassing the reality of this moment, we merely generate stress. If we don’t try at all, losing ourselves in sense stimulus over and over again, we only generate more stress. Knowing the right amount of effort takes skill. And it is a skill we can develop: we lose our balance, but instead of habitually judging ourselves, we get more interested in the lesson before us.
Practising with the right amount provides the optimum chance of completing the journey.

(Bhikkhu Munindo was born in Te Awamutu, New Zealand in 1951. He received bhikkhu ordination (upasampada) first under the Venerable Somdet Nyanasamvaro in 1974 and then under the Venerable Ajahn Chah in 1975. He came to the UK after 5 years in training monasteries in Thailand.
After several years at Cittaviveka Monastery in Chithurst, West Sussex, he moved to Devon where he led the community in establishing the Devon Vihara. In 1990 he became senior incumbent at Aruna Ratanagiri, Northumberland, UK.)