When you’re thinking about your generosity and your virtue as an habitual practice, it’s going to be that much easier to remember those things when the moment of death really comes and you need something good to hold onto. If you’re constantly wallowing in thoughts of “things I’ve done in the past that were really embarrassing” or “things that I’ve done that were really horrible,” those thoughts are going to come back as an habitual groove in your mind as the body weakens, and especially when there’s the sudden surprise: “This is it. This is death.” The mind then starts grabbing at anything, and you don’t want to be habitually grabbing at thoughts that pull you down.
So think about the times you’ve been generous, like that question we had this afternoon, “What gift did you give that you most enjoyed giving?”
That’s something that we should actually think about. It might’ve been a material thing. It might’ve been a gift of your time, a gift of your energy, a gift of your knowledge, something you really enjoyed most giving. And here we’re talking about gifts that are not required like for Christmas or birthdays or whatever, but the more spontaneous gifts: the ones you gave simply because you wanted to.
Similarly with the precepts: Think about the times when you could have harmed somebody or could have harmed yourself, but you didn’t; you’re glad that you were able to make it past the temptation.
Those are thoughts you want to be able to access easily. Don’t be like the girl today [Christmas Day 2014] who asked what gifts she most enjoyed giving and was caught up short. After all, today’s the day about getting, but the important thing is realizing that the giving is where the real joy lies." ~
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