Thu, 14 Oct 2010
Succeeding By Giving Up
A funny thing happened to the small dharma group I'm associated with. After five years of no success attracting new members, new people are showing up. It had gotten to the point that I was about to quit and shut it down. As a last ditch measure I invited Lama Phurbu Tashi to Baltimore, hoping he might draw a few new people. Suddenly a bunch of people showed up, twenty or more for each of his talks. Of course, we promoted it, but we have promoted other teacher visits in the past and never have had a response like this.
There's a mysterious principle at work here, which I call "succeeding by giving up." I've heard more than once of men who have found their true love after they gave up searching for her. It also happens in meditation that you don't find what you're looking for until you give up seeking for it. That has to do with the unfindability of mind. You can't find your mind as if it was your missing keys. Yet that is the way everyone looks for it and it's only when you give up that you see it's been there all along.
