Instead of being frustrated 

when things fail to go according to plan, 

appreciate those rare times when they do. 

One would think that having reached “the age of majority” (i.e., grown up), we’d have gotten used to the reality that very few things work out as we expected, or just wistfully hoped.

Perhaps conditions shifted.

Perhaps others had their own plans changed, and that affected ours.

Whatever the reason, most days unfold as a series of unplanned for happenings requiring us to adjust what we’re doing or planned to do. As the day wears on and our energy wanes, we might recall and relive our frustration. And so, too much of our day is wasted on unhappy thoughts.

If we could just appreciate the times when things work out as hoped for, or just came close, we’d be in a much better frame of mind, able to handle what comes at us.

Able to improve in our practice of not being a slave to our mind, but its master.

Do not steal. 

This second of the Five Basic Precepts and the Ten Virtuous Karmas is often regarded as not taking another’s property. We might well wonder at the prominent placement of this precept.

How many of us would steal others’ possessions?

But we’re not just talking about things here. Buddhism regards stealing as taking anything without permission. What is taken can include someone’s time, their peace of mind, their feeling of security, happiness. Stealing is taking advantage of another person, taking things from work, shouting at a child, avoiding paying taxes, bringing home a shell from a public beach, not letting someone in line while driving, not completing work on time and making others have to work harder to meet a deadline.

The list is endless.

The solution simple.

Not easy! Simple.

Approach all actions with respect and humility, and every being as a future Buddha.

Chanting with a focused mind and with sincerity,

the vitality of the seed planted will be strong. 

Chanting with a wandering mind or with reluctance,

the vitality of our seed will be weak. 

Planting Amituofo seeds in our eighth consciousness is akin to planting bean seeds in a garden.

If we view our gardening task as a burden, we’ll end up inattentive and careless. Very likely the bean plants will not thrive. But if we attentively plant those seeds, we can have strong healthy plants.

Planting Amituofo seeds works the same way.

Chanting with a focused, dedicated mind, our properly planted Amituofo seeds will grow strong and firm. As we keep planting more seeds, they’ll begin to overwhelm all the selfish seeds we already planted. Not just in this lifetime, but in lifetimes lived since time immemorial. Birth as a human is incredibly rare.

The chance of being born as a human who can chant “Amituofo” is beyond imagining. We need to get busy.

We need to focus and sincerely chant planting seed after seed after seed.