Middle Men

Middle Men

Watched an interesting film called Middle Men the other night. With help from Tom I realized that the main character was able to succeed by following the middle path.

He was not too ignorant or stupid to make bad decisions, nor was he too smart and analytical of every siuation to give rise to confusion as to what the right decision is ( that indecisive feeling has driven me crazy many times!). Both of these characteristics, if we are unaware, will surely create unnecessary suffering for us and others. They also make us miss the point. And the point is: dont miss the point!

Instead, he was calm in all situations, accepting of all situations, and was able to act in a right manner even if it meant danger to his life. Not thinking too hard and losing focus but not acting mindlessly either.

Thinking about this has made me understand further the importance of acceptance of everything and everyone, and the awareness of the emotions that arise each time, to train this awareness and practice handling emotions so they do not handle me.

We are faced with many decisions everyday, many of which are "no brainers", meaning the right decision is obvious and we have no problem making it without thinking too hard, but it is made consciously at the same time, without thought, simply intuitively.

Other decisions might be much more difficult seeming but if we practice "no brainer" wisdom we can train ourself to make wise decisions every time.

Having the awareness that every decision we make is final and cannot be reversed is also important. If we make the right decision, we can move forward. If we make the wrong decision which brings about more suffering for us and/or others, then we do not progress and will have to keep facing the same situation ( karma) until we learn to make the right decision.

Practice practice practice, aware aware aware, grow grow grow. Living and learning sure are interesting when I am aware, and through my practice I do my duty as a human sharing life with other humans. If anyone else has any experiences with good/bad decisions and your practice of the middle way please share, and have a look at the movie if you get the chance, it was entertaining and insightful.