If you have happy moments in the present, then your past is full of these beautiful moments from the present as they move into the past. Life is only available here and now, and then the future is nourished by the beautiful moments of the past, which are the present moments which become the past. Our wholesome mental formations are nourished and strengthened by these beautiful moments in the present and the unwholesome mental formations lose their strength as we move into the future. Let us acknowledge all the conditions of happiness that are present today. Let us recognize them so we don’t allow them to pass us by. Let us be able to feel nature and the love from our friends and family. Let us open our hearts and the doors of our hearts. Let us open the right compartments of our hearts. Don’t invite up the sad memories from the past. Close those doors and let those memories drift away into oblivion. Let us take our lives into our own hands. Take this moment to practice mindfulness. Use this present moment. If you don’t, you’ll lose the present, the past and the future.
BE LIKE A TREE
Zen Talks by Thích Phước Tịnh
Edited and Illustrated by Karen Hilsberg
Jasmine Roots Press – 2008
CHAPTER TEN
Happiness and Letting Go
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