Make sure you set a good example by solving your own problem. That’s why we’re focused right here, because this is where the problem gets solved.

"We have the example of the Buddha. That’s made a huge impact on the world, showing people that it is possible to get out. And we are getting out. We’re not just deciding that we’re going to stay here and be in the present moment and accept that as our goal. The goal is to get out. This is a place where we can’t live.

One of the Buddha’s common images is of a house on fire. Everything in the present is on fire, being destroyed. All these fabrications that we’re creating can’t be a place to stay. Because as soon as we do them — and they are things that we do — as soon as we do them, they’re not going to just stay there. They ignite and disappear. You have to keep doing them again and again and again. You did it yesterday and today you have to do it again and tomorrow you have to do it again. One moment to moment to moment, you have to keep at it. Even with the concentration you have to keep doing it. You can’t just settle in and say, “Okay, I’ll relax.” It’s relatively restful compared to everything else, and because it’s restful it is a place where you can see things clearly and be more sensitive to what’s going on, but even it is burning. So we’re not trying to find satisfaction in being in a burning house. We’ve got to get out.

And the Buddha does give us a better place to live — it is possible — outside of the present moment entirely. So the closer we get to that, the better example we set for others. And that’s how we all have impact in the world: through the examples we set.

So at the very least, make sure you set a good example by solving your own problem. That’s why we’re focused right here, because this is where the problem gets solved."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Contemplating the World You Create"

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