I had heard about the trails in the woods next to my new apartment, but when I first took my dog for walks, I couldn’t figure out where they started. When I did find what looked like pathways, they were often faint and easy to lose track of. The more noticeable trails had many branches leading in various directions, making simple walks quite confusing.
As I started exploring the woods, I took baby steps and didn’t wander too far at first. Sometimes, when I tried extending my walks, I got lost and had to wander aimlessly until I found my way back home.
After three months, I knew the trails like the back of my hand. I knew my way around perfectly, how all the branches connected, and how to get from one point to another. What once felt confusing and a bit scary had become familiar and enjoyable.
There’s a similar experience in practicing Buddhism. I’ve been studying Buddhism for over forty years. I started because I wanted to suffer less, and meditation seemed like the way to achieve that. At first, meditation seemed simple: just keep focusing on your breathing and be kind.
Of course, Buddhism turned out to be much more complex. The early teachings alone have numerous lists: the three trainings, the four efforts, the five spiritual faculties, the six sense-bases, the seven factors of awakening, the eightfold path, the ten fetters, the 12 links of conditionality, and more. You could even complicate it further by learning the Pali and Sanskrit terms.
It can feel like you need an encyclopedic mind to remember it all, which can lead to a false sense of pride if you can, or feelings of inadequacy if you can’t. It’s easy to get lost in the complexity.
When the process of Awakening begins, technically known as “Entering the Stream,” you see three things. The third one is what I want to focus on. I won’t delve into the topic of self and non-self right now because I’m emphasizing simplicity.
As we practice, we reach a point of understanding the radical simplicity of the practice itself. We realize we’ve been over-complicating things and missing what’s right in front of us. We’ve sometimes used Dharma teachings to avoid truly examining our experience, approaching practice intellectually rather than directly observing what’s really there.
Now it becomes clear what is and isn’t the path. It’s similar to my initial confusion in the woods versus my current familiarity. The knowledge, while initially helpful, eventually becomes a distraction, either making us feel superior or inadequate. Ultimately, it’s just a distraction.
The practice is fundamentally simple: just let yourself be at peace. That’s the path. Let go of anything within you that prevents you from being at peace. If anger makes you unhappy, drop it. If striving for perfection makes you unhappy, drop it. Keep letting go of whatever holds you back from peace.
Similarly, embrace what brings you genuine peace and joy. If observing your breathing calms you, let that happen. If kindness sweetens your life, let it happen. Notice it, value it, and bring it to mind.
It doesn’t have to be any more complex than returning your awareness to your breathing and being kind.