Just as it takes time for the scent of a wine bottle

to fade away,

it takes time for the scent of our habits

to be extinguished.

For some time after we wash and dry a wine bottle the scent will remain. The habit of scent remains although the wine is gone. It will take more time for the scent to dissipate completely.

It is the same with our habits, too many of which unfortunately are not good. Even after we stop acting on a habit, for example getting angry or being greedy, their “scent,” their habit energy, remains. This is why it is so hard to break our habits.

The wine bottle only held wine for a few years and yet it takes considerable time for the scent to completely dissipate. Compare this to our habits, which have existed since time without beginning.

Like the wine bottle, we carry the scent of habits within us. It will take a long time of not acting on the habits for the scent to finally be gone. A long time for our anger and greed to be completely extinguished.

But as Yoda would say, “happen, it will.”

No attachments does not mean we are detached.

It does not mean we neither care nor try.

Not having attachments is to free ourselves of self,

of expectations and lingering thoughts.

In everything we do, we need to do the best we can. But while we are not attached to what we do, we do not move to the extreme of detachment, of not caring, which is what people may initially think non-attachment means.

In non-attachment, we do care and we do try. But we are not caught up in thoughts of “I am doing.”

When we are not attached, we can leave self out of what we are doing. When our sense of self is not involved, when we are thinking “how best to do this” rather than “this is how I want to do it,” we can let go of expectations of a certain  outcome. And when we do not have expectations, we will not be disappointed or upset when the expected outcome does not occur.

Without disappointment or upset, our thoughts will not keep returning to and lingering on such negative thoughts.

Buddhadharma is like an immense mountain

with 84,000 paths leading to the peak:

enlightenment.

Choose and stick to just one path.

To reach the summit of a mountain in the most efficient manner, climbers choose one route. Depending on their abilities, some might take a safer path, others a more difficult one. Once the path is chosen, they stick to it. They do not keep trying different paths or they would end up going around the mountain instead of up it, thereby wasting time and energy.

Our practice is the same.

With the summit as our goal, we choose the path that fits our abilities and conditions. Like the climbers, we too need to stick to our chosen path. Taking our eyes off our goal, we can become enthralled by the path next to us. “It looks easier!” “It looks more challenging!” “I’ll try it!”

Becoming enamored of trying different paths, we will end up circling the mountain as we begin to lose sight of our goal of attaining the summit.

No wandering thoughts does not mean not thinking.

We think of the task that needs to be done;

but when completed we do not dwell on it,

do not linger on failures or successes.

Hearing that we should not have wandering thoughts might sound like we should not be thinking at all. But actually it means we should not have improper thoughts. Having something to do, clearly we need to think about how best to do it. These are proper thoughts.

If people criticize what we did, we need to consider what was said and how best to proceed. Was the criticism valid? Did it not really apply? More proper thoughts.

But what if we then keep returning to thoughts of the criticism? These are wandering, improper thoughts. Why? Recollecting our past successes depletes our good fortune. Recollecting failures plants the wrong kind of seed: embarrassment, guilt, anger, and so on. Both distract us from what we are now doing as well as waste our energy.

Do not linger on the past. Learn from it, move on, and pay attention to the present.

Whatever the situation,

adverse or favorable, normal or unusual,

remain balanced in your Buddha-name recitation,

unwavering and unshakeable.

The mind that is moved from its clear, natural state is a distracted, agitated mind. It is a mind that leans first in one direction and then another, threatening to lose its stability. What we aim for in our practice is to be firm and strong.

When others praise us, we do not get caught up in fame or pride.

When others criticize us, we do not become angry or argue.

When things go as planned, we do not become arrogant.

When we encounter situations not planned for, we do not worry or become fearful.

How can we attain such stability? Every time we perceive a distraction—good or bad—we return to the Buddha-name. This is our practice. The more we practice, the better we get whether we’re participating in a sport or playing an instrument. Or chanting the Buddha’s name.