Universal Goodness

Close your eyes. Feel the breath coming in; feel the breath going out. And notice *where you feel it. This is something that’s going to be individual for each of us. Some people feel it most clearly at the nose. Others feel the movement of the chest, the movement of the abdomen. You can feel the breath energy anywhere *in the body. So try to notice where it’s most prominent. Focus your attention there.

Then ask yourself if long breathing is comfortable. If it is, keep it up. If not, you can change: Make it shorter, deeper, more shallow, heavier, lighter, faster, slower. You can experiment for a while to see what rhythm of breathing feels best for the body right now.

We’re trying to establish our awareness right here, so that we can see things clearly—what’s going on in our mind, what’s going on in the body, because all too often our attention is directed someplace else.

Things outside grab our attention, especially now with everybody having a screen they carry around. Your eyes and brain get sucked into the screen. You’re not really aware of what’s going on inside your own body and how your mind relates to what’s going on in the body. That’s a lot of ignorance right there. We’re trying to overcome our ignorance, because it’s right here inside that the problem of suffering starts.

We’re not suffering because of the economy. We’re not suffering because of the politics. We’re suffering because of our own clinging and craving. So we have to look into that. Why? Why are we doing these things? We cling to things because we think they’re going to be good. We crave things because we think they’re going to be good. And yet we suffer as a result. Why is that? Do we really believe the Buddha when he says clinging and craving are related to suffering? Or do we trust our defilements more?

You have to remember that he taught a goodness that’s universal. There are lot of things in the world that are good, but only at certain times, certain places. Like speaking sweetly to other people: Sometimes it’s good to speak sweetly; other times it’s not appropriate. They’re doing something wrong, and if you don’t speak harshly, they’re not going to come to their senses. There are times when you want to dress nicely to fit in with one group of people, but then when you dress too nicely, you don’t fit in with others. So there are certain things where goodness is not universal. It depends on the time; it depends on the place.

But there are other things that are universal: the goodness of generosity; the goodness of virtue; the goodness of getting your mind under control. These things are good wherever you go. It’s like the difference between the Earth and the sky. You go to different places on the planet, the landscape around you is very different. But you look up, and the stars are the same stars. They may be at a slightly different angle if you go far south or far north, but they’re the same stars—whereas the landscape can change.

So it’s good to have a good sense of which things depend on time, context, and place, and which things are universal. Hold on to the things that are universally good, because these things won’t leave you. Wherever you go, they’re always going to be good. The results of generosity are always good. The results of virtue are always good. The results of getting your mind under control are always good. That’s why the Buddha taught these things. They’re a form of goodness that doesn’t change, a goodness that doesn’t dissolve away when it rains, doesn’t get burned up when there’s a fire. It’s there. It’s solid. We can depend on it.

So try to develop things that are solid and dependable inside yourself, so that no matter where you go, you’ve got a goodness that will see you through—that will protect you, that will maintain you—so that no matter what happens outside, you don’t have to suffer because you’re not creating the cause of suffering inside.

The world has its ups and downs. Ever since the time of the Buddha—even before the time of the Buddha—it’s had its ups and downs, good times, bad times. You realize that if our goodness depends on the times around us, it’s not trustworthy. But if it depends on the goodness we generate from within, then it’s something universal. And it’s always there.

So do your best to develop the kind of goodness that’s always there and doesn’t get dissolved away, doesn’t get chased away when things change outside.

That’s when you show that you really do care about your well-being. And it turns out when you care for your well-being like this, you’re also looking after the well-being of others. So it’s a goodness that spreads around.