Someone wrote to me once to tell me about a very hard time she had gone through over the last year or two. She said her mind had been quite angry and now she could see that she had projected so much onto the people around her. But at that time, she could not see that; she just thought that it was the external situation that was the cause of her suffering. Looking back, she realised that she had such a rough time because she had not been practising the Dharma. She had the wrong idea that just because she had learnt the Dharma, the Dharma would always be inside her heart — even if she was not practising! 

We cannot just expect the Dharma to be there for us without actively creating a relationship with the Dharma. This woman had not been actively creating that relationship, so it was not there for her when she needed it. She realised after much suffering how silly it was to think that the Dharma would be there for her when she had not been there for it. 

This is something to remember. It is up to us to keep the Dharma in our hearts and create our relationship with it. We cannot expect it to be there for us if we have ignored it. On the other hand, if we have really cultivated the Dharma and the Dharma perspective on life, then it is always there for us. Or even if it is not always there, we can easily recall it when we need it. 

“365 Gems of Wisdom” First Volume (January — March) e-book is out now!