How much time is spent in distraction or oblivion? When we are gripped by a worry, for example, what do we do? We might struggle to shake it off. Or we try to convince ourselves that things are not the way they seem, failing which we seek to preoccupy ourselves with something else. How often do we embrace that worry, accept our situation, and try t

The aim of this meditation is to awaken a felt-sense of what it means to live a life that will stop. To deepen the question, the following reflections may help.

You become more adept at remembering to come back to the present. You relax and discover a poignant tranquility. This is a centered stillness from which you can engage attentively, caringly, with the world.

The dharma is not something to believe in but something to do.

Anguish emerges from craving for life to be other than it is.

There is nothing unworthy of acceptance.

Self-confidence is not a form of arrogance. It is trust in our capacity to awaken. It is both the courage to face whatever life throws at us without losing equanimity, and the humility to treat every situation we encounter as one from which we can learn.

ANGUISH EMERGES FROM craving for life to be other than it

A purpose may be no more than a set of images and words, but we can still be totally committed to it. Such resolve entails aspiration, appreciation, and conviction: I aspire to awaken, I appreciate its value, and I am convinced it is possible.