The Great Way Is Not Hard
The utmost Way is not difficult; it only dislikes picking and choosing.
Is it the situation itself that troubles my mind, or my mind endlessly sorting like from dislike?
📝Reflection
An old line Zhaozhou loved to cite: the utmost Way is not difficult; it only dislikes picking and choosing. The road is not hard — it is our mind, endlessly sorting into like and dislike, that makes the road hard. Every moment we discriminate: this is good and that is bad, this person is easy and that one uncomfortable. That ceaseless picking lets the mind rest not even for an instant. In truth most suffering comes not from the situation but from the mind that splits it into like and dislike. When it rains, it merely rains, yet the single thought "I hate days like this" turns rain into suffering. The great Way Zhaozhou pointed to lies where the sorting pauses. When we set down the scale of like and dislike for a moment, the mind at last grows wide.
🌱Apply It Today
When "I hate this" rises about the weather or a small situation today, try once to drop the verdict and state only the fact: "it is raining," "the line is long." The mind grows noticeably lighter.
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
