True and Free

Am I suffering?
What am I clinging to?
Where is my attention focused?
What do I dwell on and expand?

Not only suffering,
but any obsession, focus, compulsion
keeps me from seeing what is true.

Am I caught in the drama of elections?
Or dangers of flying?
Fear induced by politicians or terrorists?
injustice at work or at home?
difficulty in personal or professional relationships?

I can choose to be aware,
but not be caught.

Middle Length Discourses 48

If a person
is absorbed in speculation about this world,
then one’s mind is obsessed.

If a person is
absorbed in speculation about the world beyond,
then one’s mind is obsessed.

If a person
takes to quarreling and brawling
and is deep in disputes,
stabbing others with verbal daggers,
then one’s mind is obsessed.

(When) one understands thus:
‘There is no obsession
unabandoned in myself
that might so obsess my mind
that I cannot know and see things
as they actually are.

My mind is well disposed for
awakening to the truths.’

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