Using Emptiness to Justify Abandoning Everyday Responsibilities

The recognition of emptiness does not mean that we walk away from our roles in society, or live without worldly responsibilities. But we have a choice about where to place our awareness. With the wisdom generated by the recognition of emptiness, we can change our relationship to circumstances, even to those that cannot be changed. And although our dissatisfactions are inherently temporary, insubstantial, and essentially empty, that doesn’t mean we can wave a magic wand to make cancer disappear, or restore a romance or a reputation, or earn a higher salary. To use emptiness in order to justify abandoning everyday responsibilities can be a big trap. Tibetans have an expression that my teacher Guru Vajradhara Tai Situ Rinpoche often repeats: Keep the view as vast as space. Keep your actions as fine as flour.

Excerpt From
In Love with the World
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche & Helen Tworkov
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