3.6.1 How is one to deal with the experience of life in the midst of these conditions?

One’s reaction at first, before practice of these teachings has borne fruit, remains as before. One acts and reacts according to the blend of emotions and the system of values held, which form the basis for the choices made by the personality at each moment. One incurs karmic consequences within the relatively illusory limitations of the personality.

As your experience of these teachings develops, you will learn new skills through the practice of meditation. At first, you will simply develop basic skills such as control of the breathing and patience. These are very valuable skills in themselves; a great deal depends on them.

It makes no difference to the realisation of the fruits of these teachings in your life whether you are unemployed or in work, poor or not. In the path to enlightenment, the absence of money no more hinders one who lacks it than its presence helps one who possesses it. All are equal in the face of reality.

As you progress in your commitment to the daily practice of meditation, the practice itself will become the central thread of your life. For this, you depend totally on yourself, you need no objects and only the simplest of conditions. This is something for yourself and completely within your own power to achieve.

You may object that not everyone can ensure time alone and uninterrupted – it is not always easy. The answer is that if you cannot create such simple conditions then there will be no enlightenment. This is very hard work, according to your life circumstances.

Once awoken, the drive towards enlightenment is strong within us. Everything else pales into unimportance beside it; yet the path to enlightenment involves all we experience. Practice of these teachings will awaken your innate capacity to experience enlightenment.

Gradually, as the fruits of meditation ripen in your life, you will begin to experience the events and activities of each day with a new understanding. As your awareness goes through the many emotional transformations before the first enlightenment, you will gradually develop the ability to understand reality in a simple, clear and direct way. In the midst of conditions, you will be better able to understand, and deal with, the power structures imposed on your life.