How do you get to be a good practitioner? By starting where we are now and learning, practicing, and constantly familiarising ourselves with the teachings. We gain the ability to transform adversity, so it becomes an aid on the path.

When we do not understand the power of the Dharma, which is the one true thing we can rely on, we take refuge in human beings who do not have the ability to protect us, just as we do not have the ability to protect them. We can have a lot of compassion for others, but when their karma is strong, what can we do to overcome their karma? We can plant seeds, but those seeds are going to take a while to ripen. It is similar to us.

We pray to the Buddha to change the external situation without realising that the very thing that we need to change is our mind. We have all had the experience of being in a wonderful external situation and still feeling miserable. Have you had that experience? You are in a beautiful environment with people you like, and yet you are miserable? It is not about changing the outside world. It is about changing what is inside.

One of the signs by which you can measure your practice and your progress is to see how much you are ready to accept the external situation and work on your mind instead of always trying to change everything on the outside. If you can change the external situation, do it if it is easy to. But do not spend all your life’s energy trying to change the external situation because you are never going to get it to what you want it to be, and no other person is ever going to be what you want them to be. Let us get into changing ourselves instead.

“365 Gems of Wisdom” e-book is out now!