Wabi Sabi Life is a carefully curated serving of the imperfectly beautiful and unconventional from a Western Buddhist with a love of Japanese culture and aesthetics. Please consider supporting me by becoming a paid subscriber for only £1 a week. Access more in-depth content, audio meditations, and the whole archive.
Buddhism needs energy. We are to all intents and purposes swimming upstream against a self centred hedonistic culture. Practice needs single minded spiritual vigour and a commitment to developing wisdom and compassion. It would be so much easier not to embark on this endeavour. But once we have a glimpse at this life revealed to us, we can’t not see in a different way; when we don’t meditate or practice we truly feel something is missing in our hearts.
The kind of energy this life needs is not a hard driven energy, it is not about fighting reluctance or pushing on through, but letting the energy of spiritual integrity in and flowing with it like a river flows over and shapes a rock. It is the energy of acting skilfully, striving without weariness in the practice of what is good, cultivating momentum and not stopping at discouragement. Sangha or community is vital to this. We need the energy and commitment of others to replenish ourselves.
How do we get over laziness, sloth, apathy in the spiritual life?
A couple of years ago I went through a terrible period of doubt. I was in turmoil over my practice. What did I think I was doing? What is enlightenment anyway? Had I really changed in the last few decades? Was it all just a nice nonsense?
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Wabi Sabi Life to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.