The Karma of Self & Not-self
May 21, 2005
One of the questions the Buddha has monks ask themselves every day—actually, it’s a useful question for all people to ask themselves—is: “Days and nights fly past, fly past, what am I doing right now?” The purpose of the question is to remind you of the importance of your actions, and the ephemeral nature of everything else. How much longer are you going to have time to do the things you want to get done? And what are the things you want to get done? The Buddha says that true happiness is possible. Are you working toward it or are you working away from it? Are you doing what you can for that purpose or are you just wasting your time? The Buddha was the sort of person who never wasted time. Once he had set his sights on awakening, on finding the answer to the question of whether there’s a true happiness, a happiness that’s not dependent on conditions, he focused all of his efforts in that direction. That was the question to which he gave top priority in his life.