..續本文上一頁oing it. And some may have developed a lot of wisdom and skillful means over years of living and practicing, but haven”t consciously aimed to light their own lamps and light others that surround them. They haven”t used their fields trips as well as they could have. Instead, they”ve seen them as annoyances: “I”m a spiritual person. I want to be off by myself, meditating in retreat.” Because they feel conflicted, they can”t use these opportunities well, and can”t work effectively to help others.

　　So it”s important to start doing this as soon as possible, in small ways, since you already have to interact with people: your children, your spouse, your extended family, people at work and in your community. You can try to communicate something more meaningful than saying “hi.” In not wanting to go deeper or get personal, and thereby maintain your bubble, you may preserve some privacy, but it also creates isolation within your family and your society. So if you”ve thought through some things and found some deep answers to your questions and a degree of beneficial wisdom in your mind, try to engage with others a little, in appropriate ways. See if you could help them in how they use their mind, in how they”re thinking, questioning, and seeing. It”s not that you”re trying to teach them something, you”re just having deeper interactions and conversations. You may not be able to do that with your kids, especially when they”re full of hormones and totally in their own world, but even if you can sit them down for a minute, it will leave a deep impression. They will remember such parental guidance forever. And with spouses or sangha members, it”s important to engage appropriately in deeper conversations. Otherwise the conversations tend to become shallower and shallower, filled with gossip, passion, ignorance, and even aggression.

　　If you orient your life toward such progress, toward being engaged with the world, with wisdom and skillful means as your focus, then you”ll create meaning from your field trip opportunities, from your studies and practice, from your connection to the Three Jewels, and from the blessing of your own mind. I can guarantee you that, in the end, you won”t regret how you”ve lived, whether the karma of your life has been smooth or turbulent. You can use either for your growth.

　　So I do really encourage you to develop the wisdom of Dharma. The Buddha”s wisdom didn”t just somehow come to him magically. He accumulated it over countless lifetimes, collecting each piece, one by one, with keen interest, intense effort, and hardship. There is even a story that in one of his lifetimes, in order to obtain one crucial piece of wisdom he gouged holes in his flesh and filled them with oil and burning wicks so he could make offering lamps from his own body. As we know, eventually he became enlightened, and left all his wisdom as his legacy for future generations. Because of his effort, we have it easy. We”re the fortunate recipients of his generosity and diligence. We already have access to so much wisdom without having to collect it piece by piece the way the Buddha did. It”s all at our disposal, if we just press our minds a little and orient ourselves to deepening that wisdom through our own effort.

　　Source:

　　Becoming A Bodhisattva In Modern Times

　　Talk 1: Mahayana Seminar 2009

　　Vershire, Vermont

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