Independently Good

When you make up your mind to stay with the breath, you have to keep reinforcing that decision because there are things outside, things inside your own mind, that would pull you away. And you have to decide you’re going to be independent from them.

We start out the practice by depending on the words of others—the words we’ve learned from the Buddha or the teachings we’ve learned from the ajaans. But for the practice itself, we have to be independent. We can’t wait for causes or conditions to come about on their own for the practice to come. We have to make up our minds we’re going to stick with the practice again, and again, and again. That way, we show our independence, and we also show the power of the mind.

All too often, it’s easy to just let ourselves be pushed around by other people—other people’s opinions, other people’s actions. But when you’re living in the land of wrong view like this, where so much emphasis is placed on power and money and other things that shouldn’t have power over the human mind, you should be above that kind of thing. But all too many people just allow themselves to be overcome by the desire for more. Greed, aversion, and delusion take over and color all their views about what should and shouldn’t be done.

But we’ve seen the example of the Buddha, who was able to train his mind so he had no greed, no aversion, no delusion. He had a very clear sense of what should and shouldn’t be done. And it’s going to depend on us to decide whose influence we’re going to follow. His example, or the example of the world. That’s the choice we have to make.

But we look at the Buddha: He was a person who truly was happy. Someone came to see him one time and said that true happiness has to come through pain. Otherwise, he said, the king would be truly happy; the king would be awakened. But the Buddha said, “Can the king sit for two weeks without moving his body and still be happy?” Well, no. That’s impossible. But the Buddha said he was able to keep his mind still, with a sense of well-being, for two weeks without moving his body.

So it is possible to find genuine happiness, a happiness that doesn’t even have to depend on the movement of the body, just the power of the mind. Think about that. What’s the power of your mind? Where is it going? Are you just allowing yourself to be pushed around by other people? Or have you decided that you want genuine happiness, and that you’re willing to make some sacrifices—and you’re willing to stand apart from the rest of society?

We had that question the other day, whether the world is getting more and more awakened. We look around; it doesn’t look very awakened. But then you’re not supposed to look for awakening outside. You look for it inside. That’s your choice. It’s a good choice.

So. Accept whatever encouragement you hear or read that encourages you in that choice. But you have to keep reminding yourself, you’re the one who has to keep on making that choice.

Stick with it, because that’s where genuine happiness is found.