A Mind That Does Not Grasp Endings and Beginnings

Today's teaching asks how to look at endings and beginnings on the last day of the year. Calendars and time are agreements we set in order to live. When the year changes and the date is different, it may seem as if everything has become new, but life itself is not completely cut off at one moment and then begun again.

In Buddhism, it is said that nothing has been made from the beginning and nothing completely disappears. The words that nothing arises and nothing ceases are not merely a theory. They are a Hwadu that helps us lay down the thoughts of endings and beginnings that we grasp.

As we live, being with other people can be difficult, and there are many times when we must bear uncomfortable things. Living alone has discomfort, and living together has discomfort too. Yet this discomfort is not a failure that must be cut out of life. It can be the place of practice where I bear what is here and learn now.

When the year changes, all problems do not vanish in a single moment. But if the mind does not grasp endings and beginnings too tightly, emotions from the past can be laid down a little more gently. What we need to see and learn within the life continuing now becomes clearer.

Today, do not cling to the thought that this is the last day, and do not depend only on the name of a new year. Look into this mind right now. For a moment, lay down the thought of arising and disappearing; within the continuing life, bear what must be borne and learn what must be learned. This is today's Hwadu met at the end of the year.