Happiness and unhappiness lie within our own minds. They are not dependent on our external circumstances, but on how we react to these circumstances. Two people may have the same experience, but one will react by feeling happy, and the other by feeling unhappy. Meditation helps us to cultivate the happy responses and reduce the unhappy ones. It gives us the courage to withstand life's inevitable difficulties without disturbing our peace of mind.
Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya
All phenomena should NOT be clung to as "My Self", "Mine" or "I".
At Savatthi. As he was sitting to one side, King Pasenadi Kosala said to the Blessed One: "Just now, lord, while I was
alone in seclusion, this train of thought arose in my awareness:
'Few are those people in the world who, when acquiring lavish wealth, don't become intoxicated & heedless, don't become greedy for sensual pleasures, and don't mistreat other beings. Many more are those who, when acquiring lavish wealth, become intoxicated & heedless, become greedy for sensual pleasures, and mistreat other beings .'"
"That's the way it is, great king! That's the way it is! Few are those people in the world who, when acquiring lavish wealth, don't become intoxicated & heedless, don't become greedy for sensual pleasures, and don't mistreat other beings . Many more are those who, when acquiring lavish wealth, become intoxicated & heedless, become greedy for sensual pleasures, and mistreat other beings."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-Gone, the Teacher, said further:
Impassioned with sensual possessions, greedy, dazed by sensual pleasures, they don't awaken to the fact that they've gone too far -- like deer into trap laid out.
Afterwards it's bitter for them: evil for them the result.
It's a pity that when we talk about wealth, we almost exclusively think about money and material possessions. Yet this is only one way of being wealthy.
We have two sides to our being: the body, and the mind. And both must be cared for. If we neglect the body, and do not feed it, it dies; if we neglect the mind, it dries up.
In itself — like a knife on the table — material wealth can do nothing; it depends upon how it is used. Without it, how would it be possible to help the starving, the needy, the flood victims, the abandoned, for example? Such use of material wealth is a manifestation of spiritual wealth.
Worse than being poor is to think that you are poor, for then you have condemned yourself to poverty. A person who knows of the Way must consider himself rich, for was not the Buddha the richest man in the world, without a single cent? A person of few wants and needs is rich, while one of many desires is poor.
All phenomena should NOT be clung to as "I", "My" or "Mine".
We must have the right attitude to meditation.
Very often we think, "Meditation is good only when it is quiet and steady, when one does not hear anything."
-So, we do not like it when we hears sounds.
The Yogi thinks "Meditation is good when it is calm and peaceful. Good meditation should be blissful and clear."
So, -he does not like it when his mind wanders. That is not the right attitude.
When the meditation is not quiet and not steady, it also is the truth, the restless mind which we are watching. Please watch and note that restlessness too, without rejecting it.
When the yogi is quiet in his meditation, and if he then finds enjoyment and has attachment to the quietness of his meditation, that is lobha, attachment for a certain state of mind.
When one is aware that he feels enjoyment, when one is aware that he feels attached, that is correct noting, for he is watching and noting his mental states as it arises and ceases.
We must maintain our noting "just to know", "just to know", so that we are aware of all thoughts, emotions and feelings just as it happens.
Let us watch the spark before the fire ignites.
Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya
All phenomena should NOT be clung to as "My Self", "Mine" or "I".
Photo by Andre Furtado from Pexels
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