When you hear Buddhists proclaim the “Middle Way,” you might assume they simply mean moderation in all things. In colloquial terms, this device suggests a lackadaisical way of life: avoiding conflict, taking the easy way out, following the path of least resistance. But from a Zen perspective, Buddhism’s Middle Way prescribes an aggressively proactive acceptance of life as it really is, with all its flaws. It means finding balance among the competing forces that pull us in all directions, much like gravity. Immersed in gravity, we resist gravity, like a tightrope walker juggling on a tightrope, keeping all the balls in the air at once.
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Out of The Razor Blade of Zen by Taiun Michael Elliston, Schiffer Publishing, February 2023. Reprinted with permission.
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