Just learn how to be matter-of-fact about the fact that there’s work that needs to be done and here you’ve got the opportunity to do it. You can trust in the good effects of the good things you’re doing right now.

"You start thinking about the well-being of all beings. It takes you out of your narrow concern with your own sense of being pained by something. Think of all the beings in the world: A lot of people out there are suffering right now. So when you’re suffering the results of bad kamma, you’re not the only one. This thought helps to take a lot of the sting away.

The Buddha gave a good example of this when he was injured by Devadatta. Devadatta rolled a rock down the mountain, hoping to crush the Buddha. The rock was turned off course by another rock. The rock shattered, some of the stone slivers shot out, and one of them went through the Buddha’s foot. So they had to get the stone sliver out, and then he had to rest. Mara came along to taunt him: “What are you doing, you sleepyhead? Are you moping around because of what happened?” And the Buddha said, “No. I’m lying down here with sympathy and goodwill for all beings.” That included the people who tried to injure him. In that way, he wasn’t focused just on his own problems. He took a larger perspective. And this larger perspective is what makes the pains of your past kamma much less.

The Buddha compares it to a river. You’ve got a lump of salt, and if you throw it in the river, you can still drink the water because the river is so much bigger than the lump of salt. But if your mind doesn’t have this sense of well-being, this expansive sense of goodwill [mettā], it’s like a small cup of water. You put that same lump of salt in there and you can’t drink the water, because it’s too salty. So try to make your mind like a river by making your goodwill and equanimity unlimited. And do your best to develop all the qualities that are needed so that you don’t have to suffer from past kamma.

At the same time, remind yourself that the possibility of there being past bad kamma is there for everybody, so you can’t get complacent. Here it’s important that you adopt the right attitude, not so worried about it that you’re making yourself miserable. Just learn how to be matter-of-fact about the fact that there’s work that needs to be done and here you’ve got the opportunity to do it. You can trust in the good effects of the good things you’re doing right now."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Karma & Rebirth: A Handful of Leaves"

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