Here’s another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning the Summer of 2009. May you find the exchange interesting and enriching.
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October 28, 2010
Student: What allows emptiness to remain undisturbed? Is it when the seeing of the seeing is continuous? By grace only? Or perhaps when preferences are allowed, but not taken so seriously as one thing over another thing?
Michael: Emptiness is never disturbed. The waves of mind spring eternally from its inherent stillness and grace.
Student: So what do we do with those waves of mind?
Michael: We learn to surf. This allows Emptiness to be consciously embodied in, shall we say, an oceanic life.
Student: So the waves dont stop?
Michael: Lets hope not. Lifes waves keep things exciting. Learning to surf these waves means that we fundamentally adjust our relationship to any of lifes disturbances. Rather than seeing disturbances as something to avoid, we start to see them as opportunities for practice.