The Impact of Habits on Our Lives : หน้า 65/164

or frustrated? Feelings are important! Are we giving thanks for that food? Are we feeling gratitude when we are eating? These feelings are acquired, or learned, from generation to generation. Do we pray before we eat? We should pray for our life, for the strength to do goodness, not simply pray without thinking, or for things that are simply material. We should pray for all of the goodness that we can do because of our food. This, of course, causes a chain reaction. When we understand this, then we understand the universal continuity and connectedness. "In order to see the chain reaction of the universe, we need to meditate. If we meditate, then we know. "The importance of the parents is due to the fact that they are the habit-builders in our life: they are the people who cause our habits to be good ones or bad ones. Here is an example: If we are feed too much food, what will happen to us? We will grow up to be lazy because we have always had everything that we have ever wanted. We are spoiled. Perhaps our mother did not mean to do this, and is feeding us so much because she loves us, but in reality, she is causing us harm because we are learning that every time we want something, we just need to whine and we will get it. This is, indeed, a bad habit and one that will be a detrimental one when we grow up. Let's suppose, however, that we are not feed enough: That we have very little food when we are young, and we are always hungry. What kind of adult will we be? Well, we will be greedy and anxious. This is another terrible habit: We may grow up wanting what we cannot have, always desiring more and more and more, never being happy with what we have! And, so, a mother's decision on when and how to feed her child becomes a very important one. Every routine that we learn when we are a child creates a habit that can be very difficult to overcome. The habits of parents and/or guardians, both good and bad, are imposed on children. "About 50% of kamma that a person has comes from their past life, and about 50% comes from this life. This is why it is important to meditate and to change the bad habits into good ones. This is also why developing good habits right from the beginning is so important and, of course, why having good parents (who also have good habits) is so important. "To go back a little bit… The problem of living is twofold: First, our basic habits should include three aspects, (1) Discipline (such as cleanliness), (2) Respect (such as keeping an open mind to accept the goodness from everywhere), and (3) Patience. Secondly, how do we deal with the four basic needs I just talked about: food, clothing, shelter, and