Today and This Moment Are Also All Right

Today's teaching tells us how to receive a day when no special teaching readily comes to mind. When the wish to create good words comes first, the mind becomes even more rigid, and the words do not come. At such times, rather than searching for grand words, we need to return to the place where today is all right and this moment is all right.

Practice and life do not always continue in the same flow. Some days there are fewer people, some work no longer goes as well as before, and in another place a different way may work better. That does not immediately mean failure. Noticing that the flow has changed is also important practice.

When we accept that things are not always the same, the mind grows a little wider. We do not have to cling to yesterday's method as if it must also be right today. We can look at the present situation, rest as much as needed, and begin again by finding a good way.

Even on a day when words do not come easily, there is something to learn in that very fact. Instead of forcing empty time to be filled, see the emptiness as it is and acknowledge today's breath and this moment's mind as all right. Then haste settles down, and the next direction begins to appear quietly.

Today, rather than striving to make a special conclusion, try saying, right here where you are, that it is all right. It is all right if things are not always the same, and it is all right if there is a brief emptiness. Accepting the changing flow and looking for a new way is today's teaching.