An Auspicious Day

Close your eyes and watch your breath, all the way in, all the way out. Breathe in a way that feels good for the body, and keep watch over your mind to make sure that it stays here.

This is one of the ways that Buddha says you’re making the day an auspicious day. The day is made auspicious not because of the date on the calendar, or because of the stars or any omens. It’s made auspicious by the fact that you’re doing something good. So, any day can become an auspicious day when you make up your mind you’re going to do something good. Like right now: You’re going to get some control over your mind.

You don’t have to worry about the future or pin your hopes on the future. You don’t have to be nostalgic about the past. Realize that there are good things you can do right here, right now. If anything unskillful comes up in the mind—like greed, aversion, delusion—once you recognize it, you can let go. As for skillful things, you try to give rise to them. As Buddha said, this is a teaching that’s always true, and it’s always your duty if you want to put an end to suffering. The Buddha doesn’t impose duties on anyone, but he does point out the fact that if you really want to put an end to your suffering, there are things you’ve got to do. It’s in the nature of the beast.

One of the things you’ve got to do is to learn to get some control over your mind. Once the mind has a habit of going after certain thoughts, it becomes like a rut in the mind. Or in the Buddha’s terms, it becomes a way in which the mind leans. It leans in that direction. So ask yourself what kind of direction are you leaning in? A good direction or a bad? Try to set the mind straight up, very clear about what’s happening, very clear about what should be done about what’s happening inside. That’s where your primary duty is.

We think we suffer because of things outside in the world, but the real suffering is what comes from our own minds. The events in the world may be good or bad, but even when they’re bad, we don’t have to suffer from them if we’re skillful. That means having some control over the mind.

So this is how you make the day an auspicious day. Get some control over your mind, so that you point it in the right direction, a direction you know that will lead to less suffering for yourself, less suffering for the people around you. That way, today can be an auspicious day, every day can be an auspicious day, because you’re doing auspicious things.