What Practice Is: Charlotte Joko Beck

Photo from an interview "Life is Not a Problem" 

with Amy Gross in Tricycle Review. 

I recommend the interview wholeheartedly.

WHAT PRACTICE IS

Practice is about experiencing the truth of who we really are.

Practice is about being with our life as it is, not as we would like it to be.

Practice is about the clash between what we want and what is.

Practice is about the transformation of our unnecessary suffering.

Practice is about attending to, [and] experiencing, wherever we are stuck, whatever we’re holding, whatever blocks us from our true nature.

Practice is about turning away from constantly seeking comfort and from trying to avoid pain.

Practice ultimately deals with just one thing: the fear at the base of human existence—the fear that I am not.

Practice is about willingly residing in whatever life presents to us.

Practice is about seeing through our belief systems; so even if they remain, they no longer run us.

Practice is about turning from a self-centered view to a life-centered view.

Practice is about learning to be happy, but we will never be happy until we truly experience our unhappiness.

Practice is about slowly increasing our awareness of who we are and how we relate to life.

Practice is about moving from a life of drama to a life of no drama.

Practice is about finally understanding the paradox that although everything is a mess, all is well.

Practice is about learning to say “Yes” to everything, even when we hate it.

Practice always comes back to just the willingness to be.

Note: These statements about practice I found in a little book JB Bryan gave me. I assume he published a small edition of the book, although he didn't add his imprint La Alameda Press. There's more where this comes from. The video is fun too, huh? We get to see how other people go about their business.