Think every day about the huge length of time you've been in samsara

"It’s good to think every day about the huge length of time that we’ve been around. That helps put things into perspective. As the Buddha said, the amount of tears you’ve shed is greater than the water in the oceans. The amount of blood you’ve shed, having had your head cut off — for having been a thief, for having been a highway robber, for having been an adulterer — in each case, is more than the water in the oceans.

It’s good to think about that vast stretch of time, to give rise to a sense of samvega as motivation to want to get out. Because as the Buddha saw, we can go to many different kinds of rebirth, up and down, and there’s no place where you can stay and say, “Okay, that’s it.” You rise and then you fall. You fall and then you rise.

Ajaan Maha Boowa once made a comment that people who like to plan their next life really don’t believe in rebirth. They say, “Okay, I’ll make merit here, and that’ll take care of everything next time around.” I saw this in Thailand. There’s that story I’ve told you of the nun who was sponsoring a hut at Wat Asokaram. I stopped by at a construction site one day. She was directing the workers, and the hut was coming out really nicely. I asked her if she was building her palace for the next lifetime. She said, “No, this is my vacation home. My palace is already built at a monastery in Bangkok.”

You get it all planned out like that, thinking that once you’ve gotten there then everything is going to be solid and secure. But no, it’s going to fall away, too. Even people born in palaces die. So think about this. Give rise to a sense of real samvega, which basically means terror. Think of how long this has been going on — and how much longer it could go on if you don’t get your act together.

The Buddha’s first knowledge was knowledge of time. His second knowledge was more a knowledge of space: seeing the whole universe, with all the beings in the universe dying and then being reborn in line with their kamma. This is when he was able to begin to see a pattern. He had trusted in the principle of kamma up to that point — after all, if he hadn’t believed in the power of action, he wouldn’t have tried to find a path of practice. But this is where he saw: Kamma comes from your intentions. Your intentions come from your views. And they have an impact on whether you’re going to experience happiness or suffering."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Strength of Conviction" (Meditations11)

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