ALL IN A THOUGHT. When we talk about time, we often say time flies; however, our thoughts are like lightning, moving even faster than time.
Our minds are like the ocean, thoughts rolling in and crashing like waves, one after another, never ceasing.
Our minds are not limited by time and space. We can travel the world in a thought; we can experience three lifetimes in a thought. We can go up to heaven and then back down to earth, all in a thought. Our minds can be as large as the universe, encompassing realms as numerous as grains of sand in the desert. As the Chinese saying goes,
“When we have no worries, a small bed is as large as the universe. But when we have trouble on our minds, the world can become very small.”
Our minds can embrace three thousand realms in just a single thought. Be it heaven or hell, rebirth in the six realms, or being in the presence of a Buddha or a demon, it can all be in a thought. Our mind is our master. From our minds arise views. If we change our views and outlook on life, we can change our destiny. A thought can change tears into smiles; it can transform foolishness into wisdom. A thought of compassion to help others elicits the mind of the sages, but a thought of jealousy to hurt others brings forth the mind of the wicked. A thought of selfishness to profit oneself can only result in limited accomplishments, but a thought of initiative to benefit others can attain limitless merit.
Throughout history, a simple thought has changed the destiny of many countries. Kings and emperors have risen and fallen as a result of a single thought, and their countries have followed suit. In this world, many people change their entire lives on the basis of a hasty decision. Many take their own lives for lost love, leaving their families in pain and grief, while some steal and kill for profit, bringing others great harm, and ruining their own lives as well. All of these things can happen in a single thought.
Our minds hold the key to our rise and fall. There are two sides to every thought; we can be liberated and let go of all worries on a thought of enlightenment, or we can be entrapped, and create waves of agitation on a thought of delusion. The mind is also a symbol of eternity. A thought of enlightenment can transform us. A thought of delusion affects our entire life, and in a moment of passion, it can become the guide to our next life. A thought, then, can be so crucial. As practitioners, should we not be cautious of all that is in a thought?
