DHARMA IN EVERYDAY LIFE

By Nhat Quan

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It is human nature from birth to pursue happiness. When you are young, you just need to have a suitable living environment, be able to eat well, and be happy. As you grow older, the definition of happiness gradually becomes broader:

- This is a successful business, having a position in society, making the ancestors shine is the greatest happiness, then

- It's getting a good job, a precious item, a villa, etc.,

These have all become symbols of happiness and goals that you pursue for the rest of your life.

Even so, people gradually start to feel less and less happy. The cause of unhappiness is the feeling of being unsatisfied all the time. Once you have money, you need to have a reputation. When you have a reputation, you must have a good son to obey. Having an obedient child, the job is not satisfactory. When you got a satisfactory job, the house did not feel spacious. Until you have a spacious house, it is quite far from the work unit. But when the house is close to the company, it seems that the surrounding environment is not quiet and comfortable anymore. If it goes on like this… then there is definitely no way to be happy.

The ancients used to say:

- Calamity is where blessings take refuge, blessings are where misfortunes hide.

What did this sentence say?

Everything in the world is a correlated, predestined relationship, there is no absolute good and no absolute bad. Everything has a good side and a bad side. For example, if you want to earn a lot of money, you have to try harder; if you don't want to do manual work, you have to think, stimulate your brain more, etc., it's difficult to list them all one by one.

There are people whose houses are not spacious, but the work is convenient, there are people whose salary is not high, but the husband and wife get along well. No matter what, comfort yourself with what you have, and don't reach for what you don't have that makes you miserable, if you do, you will start to feel happy. You can have pursuits, you can strive, but you should not pursue basic things that cannot be realized, happiness will follow. If you have happiness, then the pursuit is also happiness. The ancients said:

- Plans are made by men, things are done by heaven,

As long as you try, you will feel happiness from there, the result is not important, the process is the most important thing. The devotee has a saying:

- Just do well, everything will be achieved naturally.

For a cultivator, the process of arising and letting go of one's own mind is a happy process. Happiness has never left you, as long as you know enough, and know how to give, happiness will immediately appear in front of you, and every moment will always accompany you. In the process of doing things well, you must also be aware that:

- It has rainy and windy days, but there are sunny and quiet days. People have joy and sadness, happiness and misfortune, but in life, apart from birth and death, there is nothing big. If you can calm your mind, and keep a gentle and calm demeanor, then of course you will be able to maintain happiness and inner peace in the face of difficulties in life...

And you must also remember, in life, there are many things that are not satisfactory, most of which are due to internal difficulties. If you can focus, disregard fame, and gain, even if you live in a high mountain or deep forest, you can still be happy as usual. If you care about your inner self, you will be able to see clearly human life. After all, happiness in human life is peace, and peaceful life is due to silence. If your mind is calm, everything will be light, your mind will be at peace, you will be able to live happily.

Silence is the source of oscillation. Silence can overcome the turbulence in your body. If you are quiet in your heart, then you can be at ease, when you are at ease, you will be clear, when you are clear, you can achieve everything. Therefore, silence is the root of peace, thinking, and cultivating the mind to attain enlightenment.

Meditation is not just a type of thinking, but a foundation from which to think. If the soul is calm, it will be stable, once it is stable, it will have wisdom. Buddha said:

- If you calm your mind, you will be clear, when you are clear, you will have wisdom.

Indeed, a quiet heart can hear the sounds of all things, and a calm mind can see through the nature of heaven and earth, and of people. Conditions of external circumstances come and go according to the conditions, the people coming and going are all arbitrary. So when there is a problem, you should not panic, looking at people can not judge too quickly. Sometimes you want to say or come to a conclusion, don't decide too hastily. Things may not be quite like that, what you have seen, or heard, is not necessarily true.

When you hear gossip behind your back, don't be shy but listen a little. If you yourself have something wrong, quickly correct it, and if there is nothing wrong, you can smile and let it go.

An unintentional word can lead to unnecessary disputes. A word of goodwill can make people's hearts generate good thoughts. Building or nurturing a person takes thousands of languages, but destroying a person only takes one sentence. Therefore, when you speak, you need to be careful, so that you can minimize petty disputes. When the action needs to be considered, it is possible to reduce the regrets. This a very light sentence but also very heavy. A very simple word, but has a great influence, so you need to be careful when opening your mouth.

Human suffering and sadness have the main cause that is: Compare. The more you compare, the more tired the mind becomes, the more attention you pay, the more damage your mind gets. At some point you turn around and look back at the things that used to make you angry, only to discover that it was insignificant. Looking back at the things that used to make you suffer unbearable pain, all of them are like the wind and the clouds.

So a calm mind is a kind of understanding. Stupidity is also a kind of wisdom. Not afraid of others hurting you, but only afraid of not being able to let go of you, when:

- If you can't see through, the one who suffers is you.

- Can't think, hurting no one else is also you.

Mind is like autumn leaves, gently falling when it leaves the branch, except you, no one can help you… Not all people can become friends, and not all hearts are sincere. So you have to behave according to:

- There are some people who are not worth your dedication

- There are some things that are not worth your sincerity

- There is an omission, there is innovation

- If you let loose, you will gain

- There is an end to a friendship, only to have a soulmate.

- When you meet someone who doubts you, the more sincere you are, the more you will feel like you are lying, so you must learn to be silent.

- When you meet someone who has malice towards you, if you are honest, you are already soft, so you must learn to leave.

- Meeting someone who underestimates you, even if you weigh twice as much, will be treated like a feather, so no need to waste time.

- People who love you will not need to explain because they can understand.

- People who don't love you don't need to explain, because it's not worth it.

Conditions of external circumstances come and go according to the conditions, people come and go at will. Everything in this world is the best arrangement, so when you are facing difficulties in your search for happiness, love, work, or career... it makes you depressed and frustrated, but you It should be understood that:

- All have the best arrangement!

Once upon a time, there was a king who loved to hunt and often accompanied his prime minister in disguise. The catchphrase that the prime minister often says the most is:

- Everything is the best arrangement.

One day, the king went into the forest to hunt, and an arrow shot down a leopard. The king hastily dismounted from his horse to examine his spoils. Unexpectedly, the leopard suddenly jumped up and used all its strength to finally dive towards the king, the king's little finger was bitten off by it.

Returning to the palace, the King called the prime minister to drink wine to relieve his sorrow, but the prime minister smiled and said:

- Your Majesty, please think for a moment, everything is the best arrangement!

When the king heard this, he was very angry and said:

- If I put you in prison, is this the best arrangement?

The Prime Minister smiled and said:

- If that's the case, I am also convinced that this is the best arrangement.

The king was angry and sent someone to escort the prime minister to the prison. A month later, the king's wound had healed, and he went hunting outside alone. When the king went to a remote mountain, suddenly a group of natives came from the mountain, tied the king, and brought him back to the tribe.

This primitive tribe lived in the mountains, every month until the full moon day, they would go down the mountain to find sacrifices to offer to the goddess of the full moon. Capturing the king, the aborigines prepared to burn the king alive to sacrifice to the goddess of the full moon. Even when the king felt desperate, that was when the priest's face suddenly changed color, because he discovered that the king's little finger was half missing, so the sacrifice was not intact. Receiving such a sacrifice, the goddess of the full moon would be enraged, so the natives released the king.

The king was overjoyed. After returning to the palace to call someone to release the prime minister, and arrange a banquet of wine, the king offered wine to the prime minister and said:

- Your words are not wrong at all, everything is the best arrangement!

If I hadn't been bitten by that leopard that day, I'm afraid even my life would be gone today.

The king, as if suddenly remembering something, asked the prime minister:

- And for no reason, I imprisoned you in prison for more than a month like that, what do you say?

The prime minister slowly took a sip of wine, then said:

- If I weren't imprisoned, then the one in disguise with His Majesty would have been me, when the natives discovered that His Majesty was no longer fit to be sacrificed, wouldn't it be my turn?

Hearing this, the King laughed loudly, saying:

- Certainly not wrong, everything is the best arrangement!

This story tells you a moral: When things don't go your way, all of this may well be the best arrangement! So you don't need to be bothered, and you shouldn't be depressed, because you only see things in the moment. Let your eyes reach further, don't blame yourself, don't resent God, blame people. One thing is for sure, a negative mood will never help you overcome adversity, only the courage to face it, make efforts, and believe that God will not harm you. You will see that every obstacle is actually a gift from God to you.

In fact, as long as you remember every single incident in your life in detail, you can say this to yourself:

- Everything is the best arrangement

A person who does not see the best arrangement does not have a calm mind, it is very difficult to think through something. Modern society is a troubled time, people living and working are also very arrogant and conceited. Only someone who is calm can carefully observe the times, think deeply to get a solution to a problem, or understand people correctly.

Only those who have a quiet heart can realize happiness and beauty in life. Those who are impatient, or work rudely will easily miss a lot of good times. There are rainy and windy days in the sky, and there are lucky people who have bad luck. But in life outside of birth and death, there are not many big things, if you can calm your mind, and keep a gentle and calm attitude, of course, you will be able to maintain inner peace in the face of difficulties in life. Minor difficulties will not be able to bother you.

Depending on the conditions in which you walk, knowing to be satisfied with what you have is to follow nature. In human life, there are not only good conditions but also unavoidable adversities. Whether it's good or bad, it's an opportunity for you to learn. In life, there are not only joys but also sorrows and hardships. If you always keep your mind calm and always towards good, then anytime, anywhere is a place where you cultivate your mind and nurture your nature, and you will be happy and peaceful. But remember, depending on the condition that I say this is not at all surrendering to fate, but knowing how to give up in advance the things that cannot be changed.

In short, living according to fate, knowing how to be satisfied with what you have, is like a river that does not stop flowing, no matter how many turns the river has, it still has one heart towards the wide sea. So you must appreciate those who have the conditions to meet and those who do not have the conditions to leave you, just calmly let go.

Human life is really like four seasons, those over 50 or 60 years old and older are the age group who have understood life well, entering the age of autumn with golden leaves. At this age, there is really no need to hide yourself anymore, no need to continue to flatter anyone, just be true to yourself. Because no matter how humble you are, there will always be people who say you're good, and someone who'll say you're not. But as long as there is nothing hidden in your heart, there is no need for their evaluation. There is no need to pay attention to other people's views, and even less need to please anyone because just like that will make you very tired.

Peace of mind and stillness is the most beautiful state in human life. If someone says bad things about you, just consider it as a passing wind, it is not worth worrying about it. Because those words can't change the truth, they can only upset your heart. If the mind is not afflicted, the truth will be revealed. The Venerable One often advises:

- Communicate with people you feel comfortable with; Instead of pleasing others, just calmly look ahead.

Because when they care about you, they see you as a King, who they ignore, they just show a perverse attitude. Meeting this situation, you must be aware, cultivating the mind is to practice a free mind. Human life does not need to be rich, according to nature is okay; No need to chase happiness, peace of mind will naturally be happy. Friends also do not need to have too many, just one or two confidants is more than enough.

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