Right Action

Hugh Prather once wrote, "To live for results would be to sentence myself to continuous frustration. My only sure reward is in my actions and not from them." I can have the so-called "right" motivation when I am taking action, but the results are sometimes far from what intended or expected them to be. I might even use the word disappointing.

One example was last week, my wife and I donated some baby clothes for a family that was having some trouble. As it turned out the people We gave the clothes to liked some of the outfits so much, kept a few of them for someone else in their family, rather than the intended person.

When I found out about it, I was troubled by it. My natural impulse was to tell myself, "you won't be doing that again," and maybe even confront the person. But the truth it that what's important is for me to take care of my side of the street and do the so-called "right thing." I have absolutely zero control over what others are going to do. My responsibility is to simply to do my best in each moment. I'm not sure that I want to live my life, holding back from others, because they may do things that I don't agree with. Buddha never said, "okay you don't get the meaning of the Dharma, so screw you, I'm going somewhere else." He never gave up and simply followed "Right Action."

Namaste'

Jaye Morris, Curator
digitalZENDO