Tag: Be fully present

Some people say that suffering is a fixed part of the mind, that it will be there forever.

I was talking to someone about this just today. I tried to explain that suffering is not intrinsic to the mind. It arises in the present moment.

Think about a lemon. If you leave it alone, is it sour? Where is the sourness then? It’s when the lemon contacts the tongue that sourness occurs. If you aren’t experiencing it, it’s as if it isn’t there. When there is contact with the tongue it arises at that moment. And from there arise dislike and afflictions. These tribulations are not intrinsic to the mind, but are momentary arisings.

Ajahn Chah, Being Dharma

Every thought a present moment

In your practice it is important to make every thought a present moment. When you make every thought a present moment, there is no continuity of time, no carry over from moment to moment. Everything is continually fresh, like the water of a spring endlessly bubbling up into the open air. In this practice every moment is a rebirth.

Master Sheng Yen, Illuminating Silence

During a lifetime of many small disappointments, betrayals, threats and the rest, we develop a tough skin over our sensitivity, and a feeling that happiness is something we have to seek out. Eventually, there is so much hide protecting the heart that the innate joy of being alive becomes inaccessible. Many people would not even guess that happiness is an innate state of being, independent of circumstances. The Buddha found that happiness in the purity of his heart, and called that innate purity of being ‘unconditioned’. It is unconditioned because it is not dependent on conditions.

Ajahn Sucitto