On the 26th of May is Visakha Puja Day in which Buddhists around the world recall, remember, and celebrate the birth, the enlightenment, and the Parinibbana of the Lord Buddha. It’s the time for us to reflect upon certain ways of dealing with our situation, certain ways of living our lives as human beings.

So as buddhists, our belief in the enlightenment of the Lord Buddha is really a belief in the ability of, or the potential for enlightenment in the human being; and that includes ourselves. Because the Buddha was enlightened as a representative of the human race, and his enlightenment was proof of our capacity for enlightenment. So enlightenment might seem a long way away for most of us. But if we break it down very simply, it’s a matter of training and a matter of education, a matter of abandoning all that is unwholesome and unvirtuous in our body, speech, and mind; cultivating all that is skillful and wholesome and good; and of purifying our mind. So whatever way of life we lead, whatever our role in society, whatever our responsibilities may be, these challenges are constant. How can we abandon the unwholesome within us, how can we cultivate what is good and wholesome, how can we purify our minds. The confidence that this is something that we can do and should do is vital. And the Buddha taught us that being born as a human being is in itself a great achievement. We must have created much good karma in previous lives to be here in the first place. But it is our responsibility to make the very best use of this opportunity.

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