Robert Aitken Roshi on Right Practice
Some students of religion postpone their lives and then wake up one day and say, "Wait a minute, here I am forty years old and I don't have a spouse or a career. What am I going to do when I grow up?" They have let things back up as they wait to be enlightened, or to be settled in mind. This shows a misunderstanding of the nature of practice.
Right practice, the ninth step of the Eightfold Path, does not involve waiting for the psyche to ripen. The clock is ticking. Right Practice is taking yourself in hand. For the lay student, it can include college, a career, and a family. It is to get on with living.
--Robert Aitken, Encouraging Words
from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book
