Sometimes we have too many choices, and so we don’t want to try hard. When we have too many choices or when we think we have alternatives, we compare. We compare with the past, we compare with an illusionary mock-up of the future and we make the present miserable. And we can never enjoy life if we continue to do that. So always remember, if you don’t have the thing you like, you’d better like the thing you have. That’s how we find happiness in life.

Apart from being spiritual practitioners, we should be contented and satisfied with all kinds of situations. We should also train our minds and tell ourselves to control ourselves because we’re the only ones who can be masters of ourselves. Everything I teach you, I’ve learned from my own mistakes. That’s how I became a Master: Mistakes make a Master.

Make as many mistakes as you can. It’s all right; it’s forgivable. But learn from them; don’t repeat them. That’s wisdom, and that’s how you learn. In reality, there’s no one who can teach us except ourselves. We have to learn by ourselves, by personal experience and by being wisely vigilant at all times. Every situation, every circumstance is there for us to learn from. God doesn’t make you suffer for nothing, except if you want to learn the hard way.

Yesterday, someone asked me whether suffering cleanses karma. Yes, it does. But if we meditate well, and if we learn from our experience, we don’t have to suffer. We only suffer when God has to teach us a lesson once, twice or three times, and we still repeat the same mistake over and over again. Then of course, we suffer.

So just forget the future; forget the past. Learn from the past, but don’t cling to it. That’s how you’ll be happy. Every miserable situation is caused by us or by people around us because most people cling to the past and forget the present. They forget to live. We have to live every moment! Every moment is a miracle, you know. Every moment is something new, something awaiting us, and we have to savor it. We can enjoy every moment, so why do we have to make our lives miserable? It doesn’t matter what: Now that we already have wisdom, we should know that nothing can really trouble us too much.

Every situation can be worked out, and everyone can change, as long as you have enough patience and love. Every attack is a kind of cry for attention. Sometimes your family just doesn’t know how to tell you that they love you. So they attack you, they scream at you or do something bad to attract your attention. But make sure you understand. Talk to them and make sure you understand and know how to solve the problem.

There’s nothing that can’t be solved. You have to try your best. Think during meditation, use your wisdom, write down the solution and try it. You’ll feel in your heart what to do. If you meditate enough, everything will be all right in your life.

Meditation is important, but the theoretical teachings are also important. Make sure you at least read or listen to the Master’s teachings every day. If you don’t feel my teachings are very good, then listen to some other Master. Get the Bible or the Buddhist scriptures out, and they can tell you even more. I give you only the Five Precepts, but the Bible has Ten Commandments so you have a choice. And there’s a lot to learn from the past and present Masters. You should keep some theoretical teachings in your mind, to control the mind. That’s for the mind only; the soul doesn’t need it.

So each time you encounter a problem, or if you have a bad habit, you should read the teachings of the Master. This will tame your mind to a great extent. You must read or listen to good teachings and noble dharma every day, and not simply sit in meditation. Otherwise, you won’t know why you meditate. If you don’t know the purpose, you won’t get good results. Your heart won’t long for it, and your mind won’t be peaceful enough to enter samadhi and gain really good wisdom afterwards.

Suppose you do all this and you meditate every day, but you still think you have a bad habit or that you’re too attached to this and that. It’s all right; don’t worry. You’ve tried your best. At least your conscience is tranquil. You’ll grow out of the bad tendency in time. Because some of us have very deep-rooted karma from past lives, we did many so-called undesirable things time after time, life after life so we can’t control ourselves anymore.

Just like a horse that keeps going on one path every day: Later on, without the owner, or even blindfolded, he can still go on it. He keeps going on the same road all the time, just like a train that keeps going on the same track; we can’t control it. But one day we’ll get fed up with our own habitual patterns, and then we’ll give them up.

So don’t worry so much. Don’t blame yourself too much. Continue to do the best you can do for your own improvement. You can’t do anything else except do your best. So if you do your best, you’ll feel good already.