The Gift of the Dharma

The gift of real knowledge of the Dharma is freedom - freedom from the doubt over practice, and freedom from guilt and fear.

The freedom from the decision to practice stems from the act of knowing the Dharma. In the light of our knowledge we can no longer claim ignorance. Instead we choose to live skilfully or unskilfully.

Once we know the Path, we know the skilful and unskilful. Once we know the path, we know our relationship to it, and we are in practice. There is no purpose in trying to cling to something that we know, or trying to ignore it as if it could somehow be un-known.

But knowing the Dharma also means we are freed from our guilt of the past or fears for the future.

While we will bear the consequences of our past actions and those of the world around us, this does not condemn our present or future.

Our present is the moment when we can act differently to alleviate or overcome the present potential for suffering. The remarkable freedom to choose the scope and depth of our actions is ours. We can always choose to reach for enlightened action right now – to diligently cultivate the Path.

The Path, in all its dimensions, is an opportunity to confront the world with an open heart. It is an opportunity that is renewed every moment, to start again, to seek to act in this moment to ameliorate rather than accelerate suffering.

Being aware of the path in relation to our choices, we choose to be either skilful or unskilful on a moment-to-moment basis. Seeking to ‘punish’ ourselves for past unskilful action is a perpetuation of the unskilful. It heaps misery on suffering. Craving a skilful future is also unskilful. It only serves to dig deeper the hole of ignorance.