You’re shaping the present moment out of the raw materials that come from your past actions prior to receiving the materials. You already have the skills or lack of skills that are going to determine how much suffering or lack of suffering you’ll experience.

"You’re shaping the present moment out of the raw materials that come from your past actions. But your shaping of these materials actually comes prior to receiving the materials. You already have the skills or lack of skills that are going to determine, when you get the raw materials, what you’re going to do with them and how much suffering or lack of suffering you’ll experience. So here, as part of the path, we’re developing better skills."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Dispassion Isn't Depression" (Meditations10)

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