Gil Fronsdal, a teacher at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California, gives this short talk (a dharmette) on responses and reactions. He suggests the only thing we ever really possess is our responses.
Response to situations. Nothing else is really our possession. The distinction between response vs reaction: Reaction is like we’re operating on automatic pilot. Something happens then there’s reaction, we don’t even think about it or there’s no self-reflection, we can’t help ourselves it just comes out of us. A response in contrast, is something done with presence, understanding, self-awareness and with a degree of choice that this is the wise thing to do, choosing this is the wise thing to do.
A reaction is not something you possess, it’s just something that moves through you. If anything is you then it’s your choice to have a response. And we practice to have a greater ability to respond, greater capacity to be present at the moment of choice.
It is a choice, it is a response, to be mindful.
More from: Gil Fronsdal
