We discover the brightness of life: that through our actions we can put an end to suffering. Because it turns out the suffering that weighs down the mind is the suffering that we’re creating for ourselves.

"The Buddha compares the mind to the sun, with clouds coming and going. There’s a big maelstrom of clouds that swirls around ignorance, and then the fabrications we make based on the ignorance. And the way we look at things, the way we deal with things, our intentions: For most of us, that’s all in the dark.

As we meditate, we’re trying to bring some light to that, by the way we reflect on our actions. So even though the world may seem dark at times, we don’t have to allow that darkness to affect the light of the mind, the potential for light in the mind.

The potential is there, it’s simply a matter of learning how to develop it. Once we start shining a light in the mind, then the darkness doesn’t have the right to stay. Ajaan Suwat made this comment one time: “When the light of awareness, the light of discernment comes in, even though there are areas of the mind that have been dark for eons, they can’t say, ‘Well, we’ve been here first. You have no right to come in.’” You bring the light in and the darkness has to go. We do have that power to bring light to what we’re doing. It’s in this way that we discover the brightness of life: that through our actions we can put an end to suffering. Because it turns out the suffering that weighs down the mind is the suffering that we’re creating for ourselves.

The suffering that comes from outside — all the problems of human society, the problems of living in a level of being where there’s a lot of aging, illness, and death, a lot of conflict — doesn’t have to weigh the mind down.

So if you’re looking for meaning in life, the meaning comes with the light that you bring to what you’re doing. Because the world is going to stay on in its world ways. Even though we’ve had a Buddha, and we’ve had many enlightened disciples, people are still fighting, still very ignorant.

If we had to wait for everybody to gain awakening before we could gain awakening, it would never happen. Fortunately, we can light our path. And in lighting our own path, we can provide some light for others, so that those who want to light their own path can see this example — that it is possible. After all, as the Buddha said, the whole of the holy life is having admirable friends, because they’re the ones who show us that it is possible. That’s the light that they leave behind when they go.

So look for what brightness you have in your mind: your ability to observe yourself, to observe your own action. The Buddha stressed this point from the very beginning, from his instructions to his seven-year-old son, all the way to his instructions on how to bring the mind to ultimate emptiness: It’s all about reflecting — reflecting that light back on your actions and deciding that you’re going to try to be as skillful as you can. That’s how you pierce the darkness and find how bright life can actually be."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Brightness of Life (2021)"

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