Let the Roots of a Good Mind Grow Deep
Today, step back for a moment from the difficult study of non-arising and of arising-and-ceasing, and look instead at your state of mind. For the sake of explanation, if you divide the mind into a good mind and an unwholesome mind, you can move toward tending the good mind well and sustaining it over time.
A good mind is like the root of a tree. A tree whose roots are deeply set does not easily fall even when the wind blows. The root of a good mind likewise does not disappear — it simply does not show itself right away — and when it meets the right conditions, it sprouts again like a good seed.
Small good deeds begin from this good root in the mind. When you do not let the action end after just once but repeat it little by little, it becomes a good habit, and habit changes the direction of a life. One person's brightened life does not stay with that person alone — it can become a lamp that leads the people around them toward good actions as well.
The study of the pure mind and bodhicitta, of the original mind and the true nature, must in the end be put into practice in daily life. You must not stop at understanding the deep mind in words alone, but actually repeat, today, one small good deed you are able to do. Once the habit of guarding a good mind takes root, life brightens little by little, and that brightness spreads to those around you as well.
A good mind, like a deeply set tree root, does not easily disappear. Today, actually repeat one small good deed to cultivate it into a good habit, and let that brightness extend to yourself and those around you.
- The more deeply a good mind takes root, the less easily it is shaken.
- Even an unseen good root does not disappear.
- A small good deed meets the right conditions and sprouts.
- A repeated good deed becomes a good habit.
- One person's brightness extends to those around them.