Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The Path of the Householder

In an essay on monastic life, Thomas Merton wrote:
In a world of tension and breakdown it is necessary for there to be those who seek to integrate their inner lives not by avoiding anguish and running away from problems, but by facing them in their naked reality and in their ordinariness.
Most of us who follow the path of insight and enlightenment do not have the luxury (if that is the right word for it) to escape our daily lives and sit in contemplation day in and day out in a monastery. However, as householders, every time we touch the truth of life as it is being lived, even for only a moment, we embody the monastic ideal. Bringing even momentary awareness to those things that we have previously tried to hide from ourselves can have a profound impact on the choices we make in our daily life.

Blessings,
Roger

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