What first drew me into Zen was the concept that enlightenment can be instant. Someone could be carrying a pail of water and then Zzzzzzzpt, enlightenment! Everything came together and made sudden sense through just living in the moment. (And understanding the beauty and miracles all around us and inside of us.)
Perhaps the greatest lesson I have learned from Nelson Mandela was that his journey to freedom ultimately culminated in the complex, yet amazingly simple decision to let it go. Had he decided to hold on to the pain, he could have become a broken man instead of the leader of a nation and shining light for the world.
I believe we are a decision away from freedom and a thought away from happiness.
May we learn from those before us who have taken the long route…so that we may utilize the short cuts they’ve shown us :)
Photo: Free to Be by Isac Goulart