What If....

(Just to add, that development of the new work was not something she planned or decided so much as it began to gel and develop naturally, over several months. That's what I mean about agreeing with the "letting it unfold" part.)

Ona
Anything can happen, right? Your friend's story is one very attractive and appealing possibility. In fact it's the kind of story that I'm very attracted to and that creates a wonderful picture in my head that I'd love to recreate in my own life.
However, for me, any movement towards trying to practice with that picture in mind will lead to suffering. Not that that was what you are suggesting, I'm just sharing with you how I experience that story.

I don't want to sound harmfuly critical but doesn't the thought "I'm less usefull now" seem perfectly self centered?

Ona
Anything can happen, right? Your friend's story is one very attractive and appealing possibility. In fact it's the kind of story that I'm very attracted to and that creates a wonderful picture in my head that I'd love to recreate in my own life.
However, for me, any movement towards trying to practice with that picture in mind will lead to suffering. Not that that was what you are suggesting, I'm just sharing with you how I experience that story.

I don't want to sound harmfuly critical but doesn't the thought "I'm less usefull now" seem perfectly self centered?

-michaelmonson

Right, Mike. Everyone's story plays out its own way. I was using her example because it illustrated how one can be surprised at what doesn't work anymore (in her case her old job) and what new ideas come along (in this case her new job). The specifics weren't so important as the unexpected nature of the situation.

I think you are right about trying to hold that picture in mind leading to suffering. But it's not about holding *that* picture in mind, as if she sets some perfect example of how it *should* work. Holding ANY picture in mind leads to problems. That's not the same as not imagining or intending anything. It's the HOLDING that hurts. "It's not fair! Why can't I have that!" is suffering. Having an idea and working on it is not the same as being wrapped up in it turning out a specific way. Does that distinction make sense? That is how it seems to me in any case.

The distinction makes sense

Before certain sensitivities/capabilities develop you just may not be able to see some of what's present, or if you can see it you may not want to, or you may think it's not a material thing to concern yourself with, or....


-cmarti

I suggest what you see and are capable of being present with constantly goes deeper and gets more subtle. One thing I often say to myself is: "Oh, I thought I understood xyz, but I had no idea. Now I get it." and then a few months later I say it again. Like the old cliché of peeling the onion, there's many a deeper level of insight to be revealed.

(edited for grammar)