Returning. . .
The heart of Buddhist practice is not perfection, it is return.
We sit, the mind wanders, and we return. We speak harshly, recognize it, and return. We lose our balance, forget our breath, abandon our intention and then we return again.
Returning is not failure. It is the practice itself.
Each moment of awareness is a homecoming. When we notice we are lost in thought, we are already awake. When we realize we are caught in resentment or fear, awareness has already arrived. The simple act of noticing is the doorway back to presence.
Life does not unfold in clean meditation halls. It happens in traffic, in kitchens, in difficult conversations, in moments of exhaustion and joy alike. Buddhist practice is not about escaping these moments but meeting them honestly — again and again.
The Buddha did not promise freedom from difficulty; he offered a path through it. Returning to the breath, the body, the present moment is how we walk that path. Each return strengthens patience. Each return softens judgment. Each return builds trust in our own capacity to awaken.
We return not to erase what happened, but to meet what is happening now. This is where wisdom lives. This is where compassion begins.
No matter how many times we wander, the invitation remains the same: come back. Begin again. The path is always under your feet.
Peace and Love, Jim
#return #thedailybuddha #tdb
