So remember, you’re in the driver’s seat. What matters as you’re driving is not your past driving record, except for reminding yourself that you’ve made those mistakes in the past and you don’t want to make them again.

"Think of Angulimala. He had murdered lots of people. According to the Canon, it was in the hundreds; according to the Commentaries, almost a thousand. Yet when he met the Buddha and had a change of heart, he was able to become an arahant. This is why the Buddha said if everything we did in the past had to yield the same result — in other words, if we’ve killed five people, we’d have to be killed five times — there’s no way we’d ever gain awakening. He said the actions of the past give the same kind of result, which is something very, very different, because if you have a change of heart — which includes developing unlimited thoughts of goodwill, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity; training the mind so it’s not easily overcome by pleasure, not easily overcome by pain; training it in virtue and discernment — then the results of past bad actions are hardly felt, and even when they are felt, there’s no suffering around them.

He said it’s like the difference between a fine charged to a rich person and the same fine charged to a poor person. It’s the same fine, but the rich person hardly feels it, whereas the poor person may not have enough money to pay the fine and may get thrown into jail. So when you have your mind set on the Dhamma, you become rich; as you develop more and more good qualities, you become richer.

So remember, you’re in the driver’s seat. What matters as you’re driving is not your past driving record, except for reminding yourself that you’ve made those mistakes in the past and you don’t want to make them again. What matters is the decisions you’re making as you turn left, turn right, accelerate, put your foot on the brake right now. And given that the car may be bumped up a little bit, there may be some limitations on what you can do with the car, but you always want to drive as well as you can. After all, it is your life. Regardless of how you’ve made decisions in the past, the important thing is to keep making good decisions as you go on.

So when you think about your life in general and you think about your meditation, it’s the same lesson: Look for where you can make a difference right now, and make it a difference in the good direction."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "In the Driver's Seat"

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