The Second Mindfulness Training is about taking only what is freely given and treating the environment with care. It is about learning to share material goods, time, and energy with those who are in need. The aim of this training is to end craving. Because of our craving for natural resources, because of the craving of the market for us to consume its goods, governments don’t hesitate to bring an army to invade another country and end countless lives. Because of this craving, we allow poverty and hunger to exist, afraid we won’t have enough for ourselves if everyone has what they need. Craving leads to the destruction of the environment and the pollution of water, the soil, and the air.
To see the connection between ourselves and other people is part of the practice of the Second Mindfulness Training. The people that we take things from are not other than ourselves. When, in the richer countries of Europe and in the United States, we forget about the suffering brought about by poverty in other parts of the world or even for people in our own country, we consume in a way that exploits poor people. Poverty creates violence, and sooner or later that violence will bring about suffering for the richer countries and the richer people. The suffering of the poor is directly related to the suffering of the rich.
Moreover, being rich does not mean being happy. Happiness is only possible when there is peace of mind, and peace of mind isn’t possible without understanding and love. Many people think that happiness comes from money, fame, and sensual pleasures. But this isn’t correct. People who have an abundance of these things may suffer a great deal and some of them even take their own lives because they don’t have the capacity to understand and to love. If we know the teaching about how to live happily in the present moment, if we know how to make use of mindfulness to go home to the present moment, we realize that there are so many conditions of happiness that are already there. You don’t need to run into the future to get more conditions. If we’re happy living in the present moment, we don’t have to be so afraid that our fear drives us to accumulate more wealth and power.
Each of us has an idea about happiness. We think that we have to obtain this or get rid of that before we can be truly happy. We have many ideas such as, “I really want that diploma,” or “If only I had that position.” We have an idea about what will make us happy. Sometimes a whole nation might embrace a certain political or ideological path, thinking it is the only way to happiness.
If you haven’t been able to be happy, maybe it’s because you’re holding firmly to your idea of happiness. Release that idea, and happiness can come more easily. Imagine that there are many doors that open to happiness. If you open every door, then happiness has many ways to come to you. But the situation is that you have closed all the doors except one, and that is why happiness can’t come. So don’t close any doors. Open all the doors. Don’t just commit yourself to one idea of happiness. Release the idea of happiness that you have, and then happiness can come today. Many of us are caught in an idea about how we can truly be happy. To be a good practitioner, sit down and reexamine your idea of happiness.
Many of us are attached to a number of things that we think are crucial for our well-being. Although we may have suffered a lot because of them, we’re afraid to release these things to which we’re attached. We may be attached to a person, a material thing, or a position in society. We think that without that one thing, we won’t be safe. We need to have the insight that will give us the courage to release this attachment so we can finally be free. Joy and happiness can be born from releasing, from letting go of our ideas and attachments.
Gandhi expressed the same idea in this way: “Our ancestors knew how to stop in order to practice contentment; they did not indulge themselves without restraint and did not drown in the enjoyment of sensual pleasures. They saw that happiness depends on our way of seeing things. If our mind has love and understanding we shall have happiness. It is not necessarily true that because someone is rich that he is happy, or when he is poor he suffers.” Those who live a simple life have contentment. Although they may not have a large salary, they can smile all day long and offer love every day.
The Second Mindfulness Training is also about seeing our deep connection with the Earth. We tend to see the Earth as something different from ourselves, something for us to use, to exploit or, at best, to protect. With Right View and the insight of interbeing, we see that we are made up of Earth elements such as water and minerals, and of particles that come from the solar system. The Earth is not separate from us. When we exploit and destroy the environment we harm ourselves, our descendants, and other species. By polluting the water, the soil, and the atmosphere, we pollute ourselves. If we recognize that we come from the Earth and are part of the Earth, then we will feel love and gratitude for the Earth and will naturally treat her with care and respect.
We can use the Second Mindfulness Training as a reminder to practice gratitude to our ancestors, teachers, friends, all beings, and the Earth. Our ancestors are not only human beings. We humans have come from the other animal, plant, and mineral species. Humans are very new inhabitants of this planet Earth, so we are very grateful to all the species who have inhabited this Earth much longer than we have. In China and Vietnam, we have the expression “gratitude to the heavens that cover us and to the Earth that carries us.” We owe gratitude to everything around us. When we see the water coming from the tap we can be aware that water comes from mountain sources and from deep in the Earth. We can say, “Water flows wonderfully for us and our gratitude is overflowing.” We are grateful to the air, to the warmth of the sun until our feeling of gratitude becomes as vast as the universe itself.
In the United States, on Thanksgiving Day, people decorate their homes and gardens with pumpkins, squash, and ears of corn. These are the fruits of the Earth. Every day we eat and receive the fruits of the Earth. We can practice gratitude for all species every minute of our waking life. True gratitude is a feeling that has no limits. We generally think of our parents as the ones who brought us up and nourished us to maturity but many other species contributed to our nourishment and growth. The sun and the Earth nourished us. The objects of our gratitude and we ourselves are one.
To see the connection between ourselves and other people is part of the practice of the Second Mindfulness Training. The people that we take things from are not other than ourselves. When, in the richer countries of Europe and in the United States, we forget about the suffering brought about by poverty in other parts of the world or even for people in our own country, we consume in a way that exploits poor people. Poverty creates violence, and sooner or later that violence will bring about suffering for the richer countries and the richer people. The suffering of the poor is directly related to the suffering of the rich.
Moreover, being rich does not mean being happy. Happiness is only possible when there is peace of mind, and peace of mind isn’t possible without understanding and love. Many people think that happiness comes from money, fame, and sensual pleasures. But this isn’t correct. People who have an abundance of these things may suffer a great deal and some of them even take their own lives because they don’t have the capacity to understand and to love. If we know the teaching about how to live happily in the present moment, if we know how to make use of mindfulness to go home to the present moment, we realize that there are so many conditions of happiness that are already there. You don’t need to run into the future to get more conditions. If we’re happy living in the present moment, we don’t have to be so afraid that our fear drives us to accumulate more wealth and power.
Each of us has an idea about happiness. We think that we have to obtain this or get rid of that before we can be truly happy. We have many ideas such as, “I really want that diploma,” or “If only I had that position.” We have an idea about what will make us happy. Sometimes a whole nation might embrace a certain political or ideological path, thinking it is the only way to happiness.
If you haven’t been able to be happy, maybe it’s because you’re holding firmly to your idea of happiness. Release that idea, and happiness can come more easily. Imagine that there are many doors that open to happiness. If you open every door, then happiness has many ways to come to you. But the situation is that you have closed all the doors except one, and that is why happiness can’t come. So don’t close any doors. Open all the doors. Don’t just commit yourself to one idea of happiness. Release the idea of happiness that you have, and then happiness can come today. Many of us are caught in an idea about how we can truly be happy. To be a good practitioner, sit down and reexamine your idea of happiness.
Many of us are attached to a number of things that we think are crucial for our well-being. Although we may have suffered a lot because of them, we’re afraid to release these things to which we’re attached. We may be attached to a person, a material thing, or a position in society. We think that without that one thing, we won’t be safe. We need to have the insight that will give us the courage to release this attachment so we can finally be free. Joy and happiness can be born from releasing, from letting go of our ideas and attachments.
Gandhi expressed the same idea in this way: “Our ancestors knew how to stop in order to practice contentment; they did not indulge themselves without restraint and did not drown in the enjoyment of sensual pleasures. They saw that happiness depends on our way of seeing things. If our mind has love and understanding we shall have happiness. It is not necessarily true that because someone is rich that he is happy, or when he is poor he suffers.” Those who live a simple life have contentment. Although they may not have a large salary, they can smile all day long and offer love every day.
The Second Mindfulness Training is also about seeing our deep connection with the Earth. We tend to see the Earth as something different from ourselves, something for us to use, to exploit or, at best, to protect. With Right View and the insight of interbeing, we see that we are made up of Earth elements such as water and minerals, and of particles that come from the solar system. The Earth is not separate from us. When we exploit and destroy the environment we harm ourselves, our descendants, and other species. By polluting the water, the soil, and the atmosphere, we pollute ourselves. If we recognize that we come from the Earth and are part of the Earth, then we will feel love and gratitude for the Earth and will naturally treat her with care and respect.
We can use the Second Mindfulness Training as a reminder to practice gratitude to our ancestors, teachers, friends, all beings, and the Earth. Our ancestors are not only human beings. We humans have come from the other animal, plant, and mineral species. Humans are very new inhabitants of this planet Earth, so we are very grateful to all the species who have inhabited this Earth much longer than we have. In China and Vietnam, we have the expression “gratitude to the heavens that cover us and to the Earth that carries us.” We owe gratitude to everything around us. When we see the water coming from the tap we can be aware that water comes from mountain sources and from deep in the Earth. We can say, “Water flows wonderfully for us and our gratitude is overflowing.” We are grateful to the air, to the warmth of the sun until our feeling of gratitude becomes as vast as the universe itself.
In the United States, on Thanksgiving Day, people decorate their homes and gardens with pumpkins, squash, and ears of corn. These are the fruits of the Earth. Every day we eat and receive the fruits of the Earth. We can practice gratitude for all species every minute of our waking life. True gratitude is a feeling that has no limits. We generally think of our parents as the ones who brought us up and nourished us to maturity but many other species contributed to our nourishment and growth. The sun and the Earth nourished us. The objects of our gratitude and we ourselves are one.
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