Little By Little & Sins of Ommission

“Little by little a person become evil, as a water pot is filled by drops of water…Little by little a person becomes good, as a water pot is filled by drops of water.” ~ Buddha from The Dhammapada
Hmmm….
That’s well obvious isn’t it? Yet we so often ignore the little things as inconsequential. Not stopping to give child that 5 second hug, not looking to our spouse as they pass by …. Sin’s of omission that seem so inconsequential. That is until life blows up in your face.
“No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig” said Epictetus.” If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.”
The Vipassana meditation teacher, S.N. Goenka would chant “Work diligently. Diligently. Work patiently and persistently.,Patiently and persistently. And you’re bound to be successful. Bound to be successful.”
In meditation we wash away the stains of conditioned thought just as a person repeatedly dipping a cloth in a river slowly can wash away a soiled mark. A little at a time. Constant, repetitive, daily practice.
Perhaps you saw the movie ‘The shawshank Redemption’. A falsely imprisoned inmate, James Dufresne, eventually makes his escape from prison by using a simple hammer used for gems. Unbeknown to everyone, bit by bit, he has hammered softly a whole in the wall that is covered by a poster. Bit by bit over many years he makes his escape route. There was never any major heroic dramatic action. Rather a constant tapping away until the right time presented itself. Yet without all the years of prepatory hammering escape would not have been possible.
The point?
“Make your mind pure as a silversmith blows away the impurities of silver, little by little, instant by instant.” ~ Buddha from The Dhammapada
It’s the daily routine things in life that determine our future. Every action counts. Its up to us to ensure that the ledger credits us in our work, relationships and spirituality. Or do we let things slide and let life be a series of debits?
If Andy Dufresne had not hammered a little each night then I suppose this fictional hero would still be in prison……