Making the Most of It
January 29, 2018

Think about the Buddha on the night of his awakening. After seeing many, many thousands and thousands of lifetimes, and then seeing animals and human beings and devas dying and then being reborn as animals and humans and devas all mixed up, you can imagine the sense of samvega he felt. If that’s hard to imagine, all you have to do is read a little bit of history and you realize how really atrociously people can behave to one another. The fact that we have a little space here where we can practice is something very valuable. So you want to make the most of it.

After all, what do you take out of this human life? You take out your actions. You’re actions come from what? They come from your state of the mind. So you want to put your mind in a good state, so that regardless of what other people do, you act in an honorable way. Even though they may be shameless, you have a proper sense of shame, a sense of honor, because it’s for your own true good. Things that can be gained by, say, breaking the precepts or behaving in other unskillful ways don’t last very long. But the damage that can be done can last very long.

So even though things aren’t perfect right here, at least they’re good enough to practice. That in and of itself is quite an accomplishment. Think of all the people who helped create this place so that we can practice. Show a sense of gratitude and try to repay their goodness by practicing as seriously as you can. That way, when this interlude passes and things get bad—and they will, things in the world go up and down—you’ll have something good to take with you, something good to hold on to, the good qualities of the mind that you’ve built inside.

So here’s another good day to practice. Make the most of it, because good days like this don’t always come.