Generally speaking, one can observe that most people are living their lives as if this is the only life they have. Most have adopted the worldview that we are material beings and pursue material things and experiences. If we indeed only exist temporarily and everything is finished at the death of this current body that we have, then it would make sense that we pursue short-term goals because we don’t have that much time to achieve longer term goals. But if we continue to exist in some form after the current body dies, this would dramatically change the reality of our existence. Rather than this current life being everything, it would just be a tiny chapter in a very long and perhaps eternal existence. If I do exist beyond this current experience, this gives rise to many questions; Do I really want to spend all my time and energy to achieve things which I will not be able to take with me when this body ends? Does it make sense to place all of my focus on temporary and passing goals and experiences?

There are many things in life that we have no control over. We have no control over natural forces in this world, and we have very little control over other living beings. We do have some control over our bodies, but even that is limited as we cannot prevent it from aging, sometimes getting sick and ultimately expiring on us. But I do have a lot of control what I expose my mind to. Who and what do we listen to? Who do we trust and follow, and what do we believe? In other words, who do we allow to influence us? Ultimately, we create our consciousness by what we focus on, what we meditate on, what we deem important in our lives, and by the choices we make every day. I actually have a power to decide what the contents of my mind are going to be. I have the power to decide what actions I am going to perform in my life. And when I make excellent choices of where I am going in life and what I am doing, it has an excellent outcome. When I make poor choices, when I am moved just by temporary and often contradictory desires and by mental compulsion, it never ends well.

It is actually better if you just practice for 10 to 15 minutes every day than to do it twice a week for half an hour. It is really important to be regular in our practice. No matter what we try to achieve in life, what we are trying to get better at, it takes regular practice. We need to really have some determination and motivation to try to reach our goal that we set. And this is actually the greatest goal that we can set. The goal that we can experience real lasting happiness and peace, that we can actually be a force for good in this world. This is our hope. I just wanted to say one other thing. That we need to be mindful about the power of association. Who do we spend time with? Who do we get close to, what type of activities do we engage in? It is said that it is very beneficial to be with like-minded people who have similar goals in life because we can actually help each other. If we spend time with people who have completely different goals in life, we will find that we don’t have very much in common. And we cannot be as focused in our practice. If you have the fortune of spending time in your life with people who have the same or very similar goals, this can be so beneficial.

When we associate with others and make friends with others, we are always either being influenced by them or influencing them. Who influences whom depends on who is more firmly rooted in the lifestyle they lead. If we associate with very envious persons, then many other undesirable qualities will be present in that person’s life as well. Unless we are fully experiencing love, happiness and peace, we will be affected by such association.