Root causes of suffering. Resistance. Upset. Personal hell states. Only through hard won effort and focused determination can one free oneself from the powerful effects of the kleshas. The Roshi, in her loving wisdom, shoved our faces in our karma from a non personal place. Hence we played along, as difficult as that was, otherwise practice would have simply consisted of the normal, worldly ways in which we push each other’s buttons. The mantra was, “ In this very lifetime I commit to cleaning up this karma for benefit of all sentient beings.” Since ego is devoted to comfort, even with this intention, we will unconsciously avoid facing karma. Therefore a trustworthy mentor who holds you accountable accelerates the process. The proactive yogi chooses the road less travelled and swims upstream to face it, contend with it and ultimately free it. Free it? Yes. Form is not different from emptiness. Emptiness is not different from form. Bursting forth from the captivity attributed to ignorance ( ie not looking, avoidance ), freed from conditioned patterns, prana returns to the cosmic dance and the aspirant rests in a flood of well being, bodily surety and relaxed enthusiasm. All is as it should be. Satisfaction. Adulthood. It’s a fine day to die but there is plenty of work to do so let’s get started.