So you want to make sure that you’re aiming, at the very least, at not harming anyone, finding a happiness that’s reliable and trustworthy. Ultimately you want to be able to find a way to put an end to suffering.

"Are your views right? If your views are wrong, they can send you off in all sorts of directions.

So you want to make sure that you’re aiming, at the very least, at not harming anyone, finding a happiness that’s reliable and trustworthy that doesn’t require that you harm anybody else, doesn’t require that you harm yourself. Ultimately you want to be able to find a way to put an end to suffering. That’s the right direction in which you should aim your life.

So you should ask yourself, “The people I’m associating with: Is that where they aim? How about myself: Is that where I aim?” Look at where you’re aiming your life. If you see that you’re heading off in the wrong direction, you’ve got the wrong target, try to change the target. Change so that it’s the right direction, so that you’re not causing any suffering — you’re not causing yourself suffering, you’re not causing anyone else any suffering. At the same time, you’re developing those treasures you can take with you. Because in your next lifetime, you’re also going to want to have good karma in your past. Right now is the past of your future.

So what are you doing right now in terms of developing your views, developing your precepts, your behavior around other people, and your livelihood? These are the things that you really have to look at carefully.

If there are things you need to change, it’s not too late to change. If you decide that you have to change the direction, it’s not too late to change. Just make sure that right now your direction is going in the right direction.

This is one of the reasons why we stay with the breath. The breath is a good friend to stay with because it’s one of the things that alerts us. When something wrong is going on in the mind, there’s going to be something wrong in your breath. So it’s a good friend to have. It helps keep you pointed in the right direction.

Try to maintain this state of mind that’s settled in right here, that can see things clearly for what they are and where they’re going. That way, you can see for yourself what you are and where you’re going. And if you’re going in the right direction, fine, maintain that. If not, it’s never too late to change direction."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Making Progress"

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