Renewal

Haven’t you wished you were someone else that you could be different that you could be better? Well here’s your chance.  Every day, every moment is new and we have time to make a change, to look at who we are and to decide how we want to be. Every day is a busy day of eating and sleeping and working and breathing and, in between our routine activities, we need to take the time to take a long hard look at ourselves.

We need to make a list of the good things that we do and say. The good things about our lives, the fine relationships, the happy moments and events, the things we are proud of. We need to spend time congratulating ourselves on our successes and achievements. We need to allow ourselves the pleasure of delighting in our successes, feeling the warmth of having done something good.

Then we need to turn to the other side and make a careful list of our faults and shortcomings. We need to address our lack of openness or understanding, our selfishness, our impatience and arrogance. We need to identify our greed, hatred and stupidity and not to blame ourselves or get angry with ourselves, just identify these dimensions of our being and make a strong resolve to change.

When we do this action of identification, then we can be more aware of these different traits within our character and by bringing them to the fore we can work with them or on them.

This is as good a time as any for renewal. (Of course we can always start again or start anew later on…) But for now, let us grab this chance and do our best.

The Buddha taught us that – these days very popular subject – mindfulness is simple and effective in making me a more genuine human being. Through mindfulness I can increase my ability to think and speak good words: words that are truthful and kind. And I can reduce my ability to think and speak words which are false and unkind. All we have to do is to do it.

The other day I read a sutra of the Buddha. A prince goes to see one of the Buddha’s rivals. He dares the prince to go the Buddha and refute the words of the Buddha. The prince asks how to do this and the rival tells him to ask if the Awakened One ever uses words that are unendearing and disagreeable to others. If he answers yes, then the prince should ask what is the difference between a Buddha and ordinary people. If he answers no then the prince should challenge him as the Buddha was heard saying bad things about his cousin Devadatta [who had tried to dishonor and kill him.]

“Then we will have him,” says the rival. “He will not be able to swallow or spit up an answer. Just like something stuck in his throat.”

So the prince goes off to see the Buddha but decides not to attack him then but only after offering him a meal. After the meal is over, the prince asks the Buddha if he ever says anything unendearing and disagreeable to anyone.

The Buddha answers, “"Prince, there is no categorical yes-or-no answer to that." And then the prince realizes that the rival is destroyed because there is no clear answer.

The Buddha, ever fine with explanation, asks the prince what he would do if the baby sleeping on his lap were to start choking on a piece of gravel. Without hesitation the prince explains how he would use his finger to get it out of the child’s throat.  :And why would you do that?” asks the Buddha. “Because I love the child,” replies the prince. Then the Buddha goes on to explain in the same way he deals with his speech.

[1] In the case of words that the Tathagata [the Buddha] knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial (or: not connected with the goal), unendearing & disagreeable to others, he does not say them.

[2] In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, unbeneficial, unendearing & disagreeable to others, he does not say them.