There are four things the great masters encourage us to do to strengthen our practice. First, work hard to create virtuous karma. Put our energies into using our body, speech and mind in virtuous ways that do not cause harm to ourselves or others. That is the basic requirement of the path and the basic thing of being a good human being. If our body, speech, and mind are all over the place, it is not going to work.

Our speech sometimes can be bad. We need to take care of it by abandoning the four destructive actions of speech: lying, creating disharmony, harsh words and idle talk. We should also cultivate right speech by speaking truthfully, using our speech to create harmony amongst people who are divided, or to keep people who are together, united. We should speak kindly, pointing out people’s good qualities to them so that they are encouraged. And speak at appropriate times about appropriate topics. We should make right speech fundamental in our lives.

Second, “confess previous wrongs”. We have all made tons of mistakes, haven’t we? Instead of feeling guilty and unworthy, or having low self-esteem and carrying all that emotional baggage, we do purification practices. Be responsible for what you did, purify the karma through revealing, confessing, and making amends at least in your mind, and hold a determination not to do it again, and then do remedial action. In that way, we can put the past to rest, instead of letting it constantly weigh us down, especially in terms of our own destructive actions. Do not wait until we die to do it but do it every day. If there is something during the day that we regret doing, in the evening or as soon as we regret it, feel that regret and do the four opponent powers. Then move on instead of letting things weigh us down and accumulate emotional baggage.

Third, “strengthen your precepts again and again”. Sometimes there is discussion about whether lay people can retake their five precepts. Lama Yeshe always let people do it, but I have heard other teachers say no. It is a very good thing to do to strengthen your precepts. When you feel like you are getting lazy and your mind is all over the place, take the one-day precepts, especially the eight Mahayana precepts. That really gets you back on track.

Lastly, “dedicate all merit for awakening”. Dedicate all the merits we create during the day in the evening. But you do not have to wait until the evening. That is why at the end of all the teachings, at the end of all the meditation sessions, we always do dedication verses.

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