Change What We Do: Change Who We Are

In changing what we do, we change who we are.

The Buddha strongly emphasized the importance of recollecting our generosity and our virtue. It may not be something we are accustomed to, but if we don’t notice the good that we’re doing and appreciate it, our old, limiting patterns will take over.

We might be afraid that we’ll get conceited if we allow ourselves to really feel the joy of the good that we do. But that joy is wholesome, and a support for the Path. It’s a joy that arises from recollecting and appreciating what is harmless, what is generous, what is kind. It’s so much easier to get self-absorbed around our negative qualities, so we need to counter that with appreciating the good.

So how do we navigate these waters?

First, we can shift from chasing short-term pleasures and comforts to aligning ourselves with a greater joy. We can ask: “Is this wholesome? Is this beneficial? Will this lead to my welfare, to the welfare of others, or to both?” If we find that those questions bring us a “No,” then we need to change what we are doing and find a way that will better serve our Path.

It’s not that we’re trying to make ourselves into a perfect person—there is no such thing—but we are changing the way we meet our experience and that changes everything. When we expand beyond our little stories of good and bad, right and wrong, the Path is right there.

As the Buddha said in the Dvedhāvitakka Sutta, “Whatever one frequently thinks and ponders upon, that will become the inclination of the mind.”

This reflection by Ayya Ānandabodhī is from the book, Leaving It All Behind, (pdf) p. 14.