The Remover of Obstacles

There is a saying in Zen, " If a teacher cannot bow to her students, she cannot bow to God." Many people think a student finds an answer from a teacher; however, a teacher often sees an answer through the student. As this teaching conveys, we are all the student AND the teacher.

I've been thinking all week about what to write to you, and until this morning, I still wasn't sure what I would say. After I taught my 6 AM class, a student approached me, looked me straight in the eye with deep sincerity, and said, "I needed to hear everything you said today." She squeezed my hand in a way that felt like a hug.

She gave me my answer.

Please take a deep breath with me and feel it while you bring some of your attention to your forehead center. This is your third eye, the space where you gain or lose strength by your capacity to use wisdom, or long sight. Clear sight. Although sometimes difficult, the following teaching is worth the practice and the consistent and honest assessment.

Buddha said, "The physical world is an illusion."

This may not make sense, literally, but symbolically, it holds the answer. What he is saying here is not that the world outside of you doesn't exist. He is saying that nothing outside of you has power over you, unless you give it power. You get to decide what has power over you or not.

The practice of Zen offers the same teaching with different words: "If you see the Guru driving down the street, kill the Guru." When I share this teaching with people, they sometimes get offended.

Again, don't take it literally.

The word guru means remover of darkness. This teaching reminds you that nothing outside of you has power over you, unless you give it power. Often, people look outside themselves for the answers, yet you are the only one who can see them. If you can only see the guru outside of you, kill the guru.

These teachings are symbolic.

The light you are looking for is within.

The love you are seeing is within.

The world is a mirror.

The one that can remove the darkness

is not on the outside.

You do it.

xo,

Diana