JUST THERE

Being open means being free to do whatever is called for in a given
situation. Because you do not want anything from the situation, you
are free to act in the way genuinely appropriate to it. And
similarly, if other people want something from you, that may be their
problem. You do not have to try to ingratiate yourself with anyone.
Openness means "being what you are." If you are comfortable being
yourself, then an environment of openness and communication arises
automatically and naturally.
It is like the idea of the moon shining on one hundred bowls
of water, so that there are one hundred moons, one in each bowl. This
is not the moon's design nor was it designed by anyone else. But for
some strange reason there happen to be one hundred moons reflected in
one hundred bowls of water. Openness means this kind of absolute
trust and self-confidence. If the bowls are there, they will reflect
your "moon-ness." If they are not there, they will not. Or if they
are only half there, then they will reflect only half a moon. It is
up to them. You are just there, the moon, open, and the bowls may
reflect you or not. You neither care nor do you not care. You are just there.

From "The Open Way," in CUTTING THROUGH SPIRITUAL MATERIALISM, pages
10102, 103 to 104.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used
by permission.

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Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
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