Dangers Inside & Out
January 13, 2024

Close your eyes and pay full attention to your breath. Know when it’s coming in; know when it’s going out. Notice how it feels. We’re trying to get the mind to settle down, and it’s not going to settle down if it doesn’t have a good sense of well-being. So. Make the breath a good place to be, so that it feels gratifying coming in, easeful going out—energizing if you need more energy, relaxing if you need to be more relaxed. Try to figure out which kind of breathing is best for you right now.

We’re providing a good place for the mind to stay, a home for the mind, which implies, of course, that the mind needs protection. This is why we take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, again and again and again—because there are dangers in the world, and there are dangers inside us.

As the Buddha said, you put yourself in danger when you break the precepts and when you have wrong view. Wrong view says: “It doesn’t matter what I do; maybe I don’t have any choice in the matter; I’m forced by events, so I’m not responsible for anything; or my actions don’t have any consequences.” That kind of view is really dangerous, because it can let you do all kinds of unskillful things. You think that you’re immune to the results that are going to happen, but of course you’re going to suffer.

So you want to make sure that you hold to the precepts. Those are the basic rules for what’s skillful, what’s not. A lot of people don’t like the idea of rules, but remember, the word discipline here doesn’t mean anything imposed from outside. It’s something you do from inside.

You realize that if you want long-term happiness, you’ve got to discipline all your desires for short-term happiness. If they’re in line with the principle of long-term happiness, they’re okay. But if they’re not, you’ve got to do something about them. Those are the dangers inside. Because even though you may formally say you take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, sometimes you take refuge in your greed. Sometimes you take refuge in your anger, in your delusion, none of which can offer really safe places to be.

So as we meditate, we create a house for the mind here, the protection that the roof, the walls, the floor can give us. If we base everything on the precepts and on right view, we protect ourselves on all sides.

So when the Buddha has us take refuge, we take him as an example. As we develop his qualities within us, those are our true refuge. But we need that good example because the world has so many other examples out there, and it’s so easy to follow whatever example seems eye-catching or mind-catching.

Remind yourself that we’ve already had a good example from the Buddha and his noble disciples. And the principles of true happiness, and the principles of what causes suffering, haven’t changed. They dress them up differently now, but the basic principles are the same. So remind yourself you’ve got something good, solid, and reliable inside. You’ve got this conviction that the Buddha really was awakened. And what he taught you about the power of your actions—that you’re responsible for your actions and you’re going to benefit or suffer from the results: Hold on to that. That’s your refuge. That provides you safety wherever you go.