That Lao Tzu has been lobbing great wisdom to us over the centuries. Sometimes we forget we're not the first humans to be experiencing LIFE. There are wise ones that have gone before us, and we're lucky to still have the gifts of their experience.
This particular quote resonates, because I was headed down a path, in response and reaction to something I thought happened to me and by golly, I had to respond in kind. Not kindly. Certainly not kindly. But tit for tat. I had quite the scenario in my head, and an elaborate fantasy of how it would all play out.
I did awake from this revenge fantasy. No one was harmed in the machinations of my devilish mind. Except me. I am surprised at the depth of my primitive angry self at times. This was one of those times. Now that I've let the feelings go, I feel at peace again, with a renewed sense that I can always always take refuge in the Dharma. It's where love and sanity wins. It's where self-respect resides.
How do you wake up? What brings you back to your essential goodness?
