.
Nowadays,
especially in these modern times,
we have low self-esteem.
There is a lot of self-criticism,
and sometimes it could be very strong.
It may cause us
to lose energy and
become problematic for our lives.
But in ancient practice,
especially in Tibetan Buddhism,
the first practice
is appreciation.
Having appreciation for yourself,
for the world, and for your life
is really important. Why?
Because we all have basic innate goodness.
Our true nature is wonderful!
How can we discover
our true nature?
One of the practices we can do is appreciation.
When we begin to appreciate,
we will have a lot of great discoveries
within ourselves.
There are unlimited treasures
within ourselves.
One of the simplest practices is what we call
“the five individual riches.”
We appreciate five things about ourselves.
This practice has been really beneficial for me,
and it was one of my first practices.
And today I would like to share it with all of you.
The five appreciation practice is very simple!
In a way,
it does not look like anything special,
but actually these are the biggest special!
The first one is what
we call “mingye” —
being human.
That is a great thing, isn’t it?
We need to appreciate that.
So first, we appreciate this human life.
The second is having been born “in a central place,”
meaning that we have been born with freedoms,
and especially, we have spiritual choices.
We can have a lot of spirituality
if we really want to engage in that.
So we appreciate that.
The third is having our senses.
It is amazing, isn't it?
We have eyes, ears, a nose, a tongue, and a body.
All of these are actually amazing!
The fourth is that
once we have been born
in a spiritual environment,
everybody has freedom, right?
You can choose your own path,
and this freedom is wonderful actually!
Appreciate this freedom.
The last one is
having basic innate goodness.
Actually, at a deeper level,
you all have love and compassion,
wisdom, and awareness.
Awareness, love and compassion, and wisdom
are our fundamental nature.
These are the five things.
Now we are going to do a little
meditation together.
Please keep your spine loosely straight.
If you want, you can close your eyes
and please relax the muscles in your body.
Relax
your head,
shoulders,
back,
arms,
and legs.
Now, please
appreciate having this body.
It is amazing that we have this body.
Appreciate that
“I'm alive now,
and I am breathing.
How wonderful!
I was born with
spiritual freedom.
I have choices.
I can choose to practice meditation.
This is wonderful!
The spiritual path is wonderful!
And I have my senses.”
Whatever senses you have, appreciate them.
Appreciate that you have these wonderful eyes,
ears
so you can hear the teachings,
a nose so you can smell things,
and a tongue that can taste wonderful, delicious food,
and bodily sensations also.
Appreciate that
“I have
a path to follow
in the world.
There are great works
that were laid out by great beings,
and I can follow that.
I can go on the right path if I choose to.”
Again, this is the freedom to choose your path.
Appreciate that.
“I have wonderful basic innate goodness.
Awareness is my true nature,
and love and compassion are my innate qualities,
and I have wisdom.”
Appreciate
your basic innate goodness.
Now, please open your eyes,
and you can see the world.
It is wonderful!
We need to learn how to appreciate like that.
Sometimes we say that if we have 10 qualities,
and 9 are positive and 1 is negative,
normally we ignore the 9 positive things in ourselves
and exaggerate the 1 that is negative.
We only see the 1 that is negative,
and also, we exaggerate it.
But if you practice appreciation
and gratitude in this way,
you will discover
great qualities within yourself!