The Grass at the Gate
May 19, 2017

Close your eyes and watch your breath. Be kind to your breath. Allow it to come in in a way that feels good. Don’t force it too much, unless you realize you’re getting a little drowsy or sleepy, then you can force it. Learn to listen to what the breath has to tell you about what the body needs right now and then provide that kind of breathing, all the way down through the body. This way, you give yourself a good grounding and you’re showing goodwill to yourself. Here’s something right nearby, what Ajaan Fuang used to call “grass at the gate of the cattle-pen.” In other words, the cattle get released from the pen and they go running out for the grass in the meadow, neglecting to see in the rush that there’s some grass right there at the gate. So take time to take advantage of what you’ve got right here.

This is a sign of wisdom, learning to see that there are potentials all around you that you can take advantage of, and some of them are free. All too often we’re dazzled by things that cost money, and of course, advertisers do their best to dazzle you with the advertisements, but here’s the breath constantly doing its work. It’s kept you alive all this time, so give it some attention. In that way, you’re showing kindness to yourself, finding happiness in a way that doesn’t cause any harm to anybody else, doesn’t weigh on anybody else at all. You don’t have to take anything away from anybody.

When you have this independent source of happiness, then it’s a lot easier to have goodwill for others. Otherwise, you’re constantly thinking about what you can get out of them, and that’s going to color your way of dealing with them. But when you have this independent source of happiness inside, you can look at what they actually need, and you can be kind to them without necessarily buying into their stories, because you’ve got this independent point of view.

That way, you can learn how to trust yourself more, too. You know that goodwill is basically for your sake. You want to be able to trust yourself in what you do and say and think around other people, and that includes people who are really difficult, people who are really cruel, people who have done horrible things. You have to treat them well as well. Now, treating them well here doesn’t just mean following what they want. It means doing what you think is actually for their best benefit. And it’s a lot easier to see that when you’re not in the battle for this little or that little piece of happiness from outside. You can pull away and see what they’re fighting for, and see that it’s not necessarily worth it. Then you can treat them with better compassion. This is clear-eyed compassion, clear-eyed goodwill, because it comes from this place of independence.