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[ Free and Easy ]

By Ven. Lama Cendun Ringpoche
From Karma Turchine Lundroup Buddhist Monastery, Biollet, France

Happiness cannot be found
Through great effort and willpower
but is already present
in open relaxation
and letting go

Don't strain yourself
there is nothing to do or undo
Whatever momentarily arises
in the body mind
has no real importance at all
has little reality whatsoever
Why identify with, and become
attached to it,
passing judgement upon it and ourselves

Far better to simply
let the entire game happen on its own
springing up and falling
back like waves
without changing or
manipulating anything
and notice how everything
vanishes and
reappears, magically, again and again,
time without end

Only our searching for happiness
prevents us from seeing it
It's like a vivid rainbow which you
pursue without ever catching
or a dog chasing its own tail
Although peace and happiness
do not exist
as an actual thing or place
It is always available
and accompanies you every instant

Don't believe in the reality
of good or bad experiences
they are like today's
ephemeral weather,
like rainbows in the sky

Wanting to grasp the ungraspable
you exhaust yourself in vain
As soon as you open and relax this
tight fist of grasping
Infinite space is there - open, inviting
and comfortable

Make use of this spaciousness, this
freedom and natural ease
Don't search any further

Don't go into the tangled jungle
looking for the great
awakened elephant
who is already resting quietly at home
in front of your own hearth

Nothing to do or undo
Nothing to force
nothing to want
and nothing missing -
Emaho! Marvellous!
Everything happens by itself