So then the third strength.

So its the strength of commitment, the strength of familiarizationthat one cant be underestimatedthe strength of the seed of goodness, or the positive seed. Now this is an interesting point. confidence currently is at. Sometimes this takes a leap of faith from where our

Because this teaching of the seed of goodness is just making a declarative statement that we have these reservoirs of goodness, we have these reservoirs of empathythe ability to love we have it. We have these reservoirs of openness, tenderness. The reason I ask you to make the list [of people whom you are grateful to/or whom you love or feel great affection for] is to find it, you see. Find the compassion you have now. Find the gratitude or tenderness you have now. Thats your reservoir. And its just because if youre willing to really acknowledge it in the little ways that it does manifest in your life, then that acknowledgement of it being there in your life helps to nurture it, so that your confidence in it grows, your ability to find strength from it grows. So the basic strength is just that we are more than our thoughts and emotions. Our thoughts are realwe have to pay attention to them, we have to acknowledge them. Im not going to say really that theyre real but they are definitely something to contend with that we need to acknowledge. And our emotionswe need to acknowledge. To say, I am more than my thoughts and emotions, is not just saying, therefore Im just going to squelch my thoughts and emotions. Somehow you have to go through the thoughts and emotions to be liberated from themto know them well. To know the ego, to know the defense mechanisms, the coping strategies, the tendency to blame. Really its coming to know how we point ourselves away from residing with our own energy, particularly when its painful. How we point ourselves awaycoming to know all the ways we do thatwithout calling them bad, but just knowing them. So, the seed of virtue is this goodness in us. The strength comes from watering the seed. So how do you water the seed? Well, its interesting to begin to acknowledge through ones own experience, ones own personal experience of oneselfbeginning to acknowledge what makes you feel more selfrespect, more self-love and compassion, and what actually blocks it and freezes it.

So, in other words, you can nurture the seed and you can also keep covering it over. You cant get rid of it, though. Try as we may, it stays there. The reservoir is always there; the seed is always there. So nurturing it, bringing it out more and more. So we begin to see how we cover it over, and we begin to not want to do that to ourselves. We dont want to block our hearts and close our minds, but we do it because were afraid to reside with our own energy, especially this painful suffering. So watering the seed. I thought Id give two examples: One is from this week: whenever anything is pleasant, you water the seed by just acknowledging that, and thinking of others. Or actually smiling at another person is nurturing the seed. But also, what I love about these teachings is, when theres pain, thats also a place. When you feel youve lost it. Like my story I was telling youthat was a case of me feelingreally what I was getting at there was this very strong statement that I was making to myself that, I never can get it rightI cant get it right. And its amazingthat sounds so trivialIm saying, I cant get it right. But it felt like I was going to die to feel that. Literally. It was that awfulto really feel what it felt like that I cant get it right. And how believed that washow horrifying it was. So, when pain comes up, usually thats the point at which we turn away and we block and sort of squelch the seed, but pain is, as weve seen again and againand suffering is a way also to nurture the seed. Saying to yourself, do I see this as having a possibility for transformation here? And then familiarizing yourself with different techniques of working with suffering, until it becomes genuine to yousomething is clicking for you. Youre finding your own genuine path, and you do it over and over and over in all the situations of your life, good and bad, happy and sad, failure and success, praise and blame just practicing. So this is the seed of goodnessthe reservoir of goodness or empathyall these different qualities in each of us, and then watering these seeds.

And also, its so powerfulanother way to water them is just to acknowledge how we shut down, how we close offthat also waters the seed. I think maybe the only thingI dont knowI dont like to talk too much about not watering it, because we have such a tendency to beat ourselves up, I just know anything Ill say, everyone will say, ohthats methats what I do So lets just talk about watering, okay? And the fact that, when you notice that you areyou know, likeIm writing this letter, for goodness saketo blame this person! Then I can say, heyyyyy, honeyI think youre blocking the seed! So humor is very good. Its good to actually ask yourself: have you ever done this before? Sometimes thats a way to lighten it up, instead of, oy vey, oy vey . . . Transcribed from Be Grateful to Everyone by Pema Chodron (Part V of VII).

Seed of virtue. The third strength is called the seed of virtue. In effect, this is buddha nature or basic goodness. Its like a swimming pool with no sides that youre swimming in forever. In fact, youre made out of water. Buddha nature isnt like a heart transplant that you get from elsewhere. It isnt as if youre trying to teach a tree to talk, as Rinpoche once said. Its just something that can be awakened or, you might say, relaxed into. Let yourself fall apart into wakefulness. The strength comes from the fact that the seed is already there; with warmth and moisture it sprouts and becomes visible above the ground. You find yourself looking like a daffodil, or feeling like one, anyway. The practice is about softening or relaxing, but its also about precision and seeing clearly. None of that implies searching. Searching for happiness prevents us from ever finding it. Chodron, Pema (2010-09-14). Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living (Shambhala Classics) (p. 87). Shambhala Publications. Kindle Edition.