Working with Self-Consciousness

The last major learning for me was working with aspects of self-consciousness. I don’t actually like being on show; I’d much sooner go my own way quietly and be invisible. Yet, walking with shaven head and wearing robes is bound to attract some attention. And of course for that vital almsround, it has to. So I developed a standard of resting in kindness and letting the image of a monk quietly standing speak for itself; nothing to prove, nothing to defend, may all beings be well. It’s about the only way one can stand in a shopping street twenty-three hours and a day’s walk after the last meal without getting agitated. And it’s a great exercise for self-consciousness. After a while, it became more the norm: just rest in kindness, whatever other people (or even nervous cattle) are doing. For this moment that’s all you need do; beings will act in accordance with their kamma.

This reflection by Ajahn Sucitto is from the Forest Sangha Newsletter, January 2010 (#89), p. 7.