20. Drive all blames into one.

Now we enter the Second Difficulty, “trying something different.” The “one” in this slogan is ego clinging, which is painful because being uptight about myself all the time makes me very vulnerable to suffering. Whenever I notice I am acting habitually – whether it’s blaming, wallowing in self-pity, pondering others, or any of the many other patterns described in the slogans from the First Difficulty – I could let the story line go and touch into the feelings and sensations beneath it. By relating directly with the experience, free from story and projection, I might recognize that the root cause of the whole thing is the belief that I am somehow separate and independent from the world and others. This can be a reminder to recognize my inherent nature as an interdependent part of all that is. This is really trying something different! Once I recognize that there is really no object for the blame, anger, frustration or whatever, the pattern itself becomes a paper tiger and collapses on its own. Then I can make friends with the situation in the present moment.

11.2025