The Importance of a Calm Mind in the Face of Uncertainty : หน้า 32/207

Base on this truth, whether we are content or not, as humans, we must learn to have calm and unwavering minds, not to be frightened of life's uncertainties, and know how to remain alert, like the earth, which does not flinch at aromatic or smelly things that are thrown on it. The Lord Buddha once said to Venerable Rahula about the importance of keeping our mind still like the earth: "If a person pours perfume on the earth, will the earth be happy? No, it will be indifferent. If a person puts a smelly object on it, it isn’t sad. It remains indifferent." "Rahula, you must control your mind in that manner. No matter what people do to you, do not do anything to them. Concentrate on your Dhamma practice and you will soon be able to rid yourself of defilements." This means the more we suffer, the more we need to still our minds. When the mind is calm, no suffering will never ever distort wisdom and peace of mind. In the same way, the happier we are, the more we need to still our minds. Being filled with happiness will cause us to be negligent and erroneously believe that we are more privileged than others. So whenever we suffer or are happy, we must keep our minds calm and stable, in order to be ready for the events that follow. However, our minds tend to be dissimilar to the earth; the mind is more like wax that finds itself very soft, weak and stressed when close to a fire. When facing unexpected suffering, we find we cannot pull ourselves together, and often become hopeless, further increasing our level of suffering. Sometimes, we become cynical with life, thereby bringing more sorrow to ourselves. People in this situation can feel really hopeless. The distress, torture, and pressure from every direction pile up in their minds, causing seemingly endless suffering. Some people fall sick. Some people can not find a solution and end up committing suicide. Our grandparents want us to be able to cope with the uncertainty of life that we never knew to expect. They use every possibility as a lesson to train our minds to prepare to accept the truth of any situation we encounter, because life’s certainty is its uncertainty. Those who never train themselves to accept the uncertainties of life will not be able to accept unexpected loss. Thus, we should train our minds to be as stable as the earth by realizing, the truth of life is its uncertainty. When we experience unexpected disappointment, fear, and torture, we should realize the truth in life that nothing lasts forever. Everything arises, exists, and deteriorates. No one can escape this truth of life.