Continual returning

(This is the third of three posts scheduled for the weekend of Fluidity Forum. It was written the previous weekend.)

Lately I've been feeling frustrated, thinking: Damn, I've been here before, haven't I? I've asked this question before, haven't I? I've read this book before and I remember the framework of the six realms but I still don't understand what it's for. I might have understood at one point, but I don't anymore, and now I've got to do it all over again. I must be going in circles.

But then maybe that's okay:

... There is no need to feel overwhelmed by how often we fall back into lower-realm perception, because there are endless opportunities to awaken.

[...]

Being human means that we definitely have the capacity to realise non-duality, to understand the essence of Dharma – that form is emptiness and emptiness is form. Recognising that we have a precious human rebirth if we wish, we can engage in activity that continually returns us to this realisation...

That's a different kind of understanding—but maybe it's close enough that it generalizes.

Anyway, it's obvious I don't have to be frustrated with this going-in-circles. I could laugh at it. I could, but right now that feels like laughing at myself in a mean way: What a rube. I wonder what that would be like to laugh at this going-in-circles without that undertone.