So much changes when I look at things from this vantagepoint. At the end of the day, they’re just different sides of the same coin. The Punishment/Reward is a concept that’s gotten layered onto the whole cycle and keeps us in a never ending struggle to have one rather than the other. If I’m “good” enough or I’d better not be “bad” and all the permutations in-between are all different ways of clinging to pleasure & aversion towards pain. If it looks like Samsara and smells like Samsara…. well then it’s probably Samsara.

When I can let go a bit, then it’s so much less personal. It’s just the normal ups and downs of life. I don’t have to become anything different. I just need to surrender, let go or maybe I see things clearly and change some behavior, but can the change come without the delusion that we can live only on one side of the coin?