Your News
January 20, 2024

Close your eyes and watch your breath—all the way in, all the way out. Try to stay with each breath as it comes in and goes out. You’re trying to establish a sense of being solidly here in the present moment, so make sure that the breath is comfortable, too. It makes it easier to stay. When the mind has a good solid place to stay like this, it has a greater sense of well-being. And when you have this well-being inside, you’re more likely to want to do good things in the world.

When you’re feeling deprived, when you’re feeling tired and hungry, it’s hard to think about doing good. All you can think about is your needs. When your inside needs are met right here in the present moment with a sense of well-being, it’s easier to look around you and see what you can do.

There was a radio show one time whose slogan was, “If you don’t like the news, go out and make some of your own.” It’s a good principle to keep in mind. You look around in the world, and there’s a lot of strife, a lot of trouble, a lot of people misbehaving.

If you want something good in the world, you look for the examples of people who are doing good—such as people like the Buddha and his noble disciples. They did good for the world. Where did it come from? It came from developing good qualities in the mind. They practiced virtue, they practiced generosity, training their minds again and again and again.

So instead of looking for goodness through having to take things out of the world, you look for goodness in giving to the world. That way, you yourself achieve a greater deal of happiness and you set a good example for others. You become good news for them, good examples for them. So think about what you can do, first for yourself, by creating a sense of well-being inside, and then what you can do for others.

As the Buddha said, when you observe the precepts, actually you’re looking after your own well-being. When you get other people to observe the precepts, you’re helping them—helping them to create good karma. There are a lot of times you can’t go around telling people to observe the precepts, but when you set a good example, other people get inspired by that. That way you can contribute to the world.

Look around you. There’s so much strife and so many people trying to lay claim to the same things—fighting one another over it, like dogs fighting over old bones.

Goodness isn’t to be found out there. Goodness is to be found in the good qualities you can develop in the mind and then in sharing those qualities through your outside behavior. That’s where goodness is found. That’s where true happiness is found. So look inside. Develop what you’ve got inside. Make that your news.

Ajaan Maha Boowa used to make the case that we get the news of the Buddha and his noble disciples, and then we should ask ourselves: What’s our news? What’s the news we’re leaving behind? Our news should be that we want to join them—take them as our inspiration, take them as our examples. That brings more good news into the world.