This was the question posed to me during a spiritual workshop at Dharma Drum Singapore last Sunday.
I aspire to live a life, true to my values and philosophy, in accordance with the Dharma.
While doing the reflection, I discovered within me, was a nagging feeling about a decision I had made recently at work. The decision seems rationally sound but emotionally, it was not aligned within. There was this slight dissonance.
And I found myself struggling to rationalize my decision. As I contemplated deeper into the reasons for my decision, I realized it was fear and pride which had driven that decision. I decided that evening to reverse that decision despite the possibility that it may hurt my near perfectionist expectations of a work task.
There was this slight anxiety about reversing that decision for work but it soon ebbed away quietly. What had arosed in replacement within was peace. It was a sense of safety and comfort. I had engendered the courage within to face and fight against my own anxiety, fear and pride. It is not easy to be aware of our flaws within and even harder to have the courage to go against them, to try to change them.
But I want to be authentic. I want to be truthful to myself, not for the sake of others but for myself, for peace within.
I want to live a life of authenticity.
And I am grateful to be able to do that in that instance.
Grateful to the Venerables from Dharma Drum Mountain, Taiwan for the guidance. Grateful to the volunteers from Dharma Drum Singapore for coordinating the workshops over 2 weekends.
May all be well, healthy and happy.
Written by: Eric
Photographer: Guo Hui
Event Date: 2023 July 9 & 16