The Divinity of Garbage Bags
I've noticed that a lot of experienced meditators find it off-putting when they hear a spiritual teacher say or write something like "there's nothing to do, it's all already here". That's too bad for me, as I find myself expressing that view more and more often in recent times. This got me thinking about what it is about this view that people find uncomfortable. Perhaps some find this view frustrating because it signals that, contrary to a certain popular view, no amount of past or future practice is needed to get you "there". In this context, getting "there" means achieving whatever goal you set out for your practice. The claim is, then, that you are already "there", and that you were always already "there". As a result, there's nothing "you" can "do" to get there. This, in turn, suggests that the so-called "goals" of spiritual practice are attained through a process that owes more to m
