Teaching of the month - Oct 2026
LIVING THE DHARMA – THE PATH TO TRUE PEACE
OM SARI HUM
Settle your mind with calmness. Sit and attain the feeling of gentleness, which will reside within your heart. Bring forth the feeling of love for all. See the miseries of the world, and realise too that those who seem to be happy are not really so. There is no permanency in all things, in all emotions, or even in life.
Everything in the world is an illusion and does not possess the inherent nature that one tends to believe. Everything that exists is but the creation of the mind, and even though they appear real, yet all are dreams.
This life is one of cultivation. To live in a state of dreaming is foolish, just as it is when one tries hard to get back into an interrupted happy dream. Live well, and live for the sake of the highest goal in life. No one can be truly happy, and no one may be spared of worldly suffering. Until the mind is cleansed of the desires that bring about clinging and grasping, there is no end to misery.
To be exposed to the Buddha Dharma is one of the greatest gifts in life. To live by the Dharma is the greatest effort one can make, and to attain the goal of Nirvana is the Ultimate Goal. What is holding human beings back from this great goal, which alone promises the supreme joy that each one seeks within his heart? It is ignorance; it is the evil karma that each individual has accumulated, leading to delusion through conditions that are not suitable for cultivation. When you are able to appreciate the Dharma, practise it while you are still able to use the benefits within it. Practise with vigour, set your mind on enlightenment, and do not waste this precious human life that you have attained. There is no way of knowing whether you will be practising it tomorrow or not.
The sights of suffering and evil acts of human beings may sicken you, but do not be angry with them or the world, for you too are part of this existence. Do something that will bring improvement to one and all. Give help to those who need it, whether they are good or bad, for all are the same—the good and the bad, what does it matter? Everyone and everything changes; all are in a state of flux, so that the bad has been good before, and the good may become bad within the next moment. Not until the nature of the mind has been realised through practice will there be real and sustained change. So where do you go from here?
Accept all beings as part of you, part of your family, and treat them with love and gentleness. Give medicine to the sick, give help to the needy, give consolation to the disheartened, and give strength to the weak, with the sole purpose of moving them forward, giving all kinds of hope and aid to them. That is why there are so few who choose this path in life. It is never easy to perform selfless services; it is never rewarding to help the ignorant ones, as they are not in a position to appreciate your good intentions; it is not possible to be happy without seeing sadness and first understanding what sadness means. And do you seek any reward in all that you do? Close your mind to such petty feelings of gains and recognition, and open up your heart of love and compassion; for therein you will find true peace!.
Tuesday, 13th December 1983 (11th Moon 10th Day)