“Occasional moments of joy alone will not be enough. We should continuously inspire ourselves. We must use our recognition of our wonderful situation in life to ignite continuous joy and appreciation. Put forth courageous effort, and make these beautiful opportunities and circumstances we have meaningful. It is important to take full advantage of this beautiful situation.

Our family, friends, and Sangha members are all wonderful. They are supports to our practice and meditation, directly or indirectly, in many different ways. We should appreciate them all, bringing more joy into heart and mind.

In this world, there are many, many human beings and our population keeps growing, adding more and more billions. But think: how many of those individuals are practitioners who think about the Dharma and about others with love and compassion? These individuals are very rare. There are truly not many, but we are among those few.

According to our capabilities, we think of others and then ourselves with love and compassion. We know we should practice the precious teachings. How do we go about that? When it comes to practice itself, what then? Buddha Shakyamuni said, “Bring forth three wisdoms.” These are the wisdom that comes from listening to and studying the teachings, the wisdom that comes from contemplating them, and the wisdom that comes from meditation and practice. These three wisdoms are already within us, but they are sleepy. It’s up to us to wake up or ignite these three wisdoms in our hearts using joy, appreciation, and effort. Mingle feelings of joy with devotion, and merge these feelings into the meditation. Think of the precious qualities of this human birth, then eventually relax in a state of pure openness. By practicing like this again and again we will make good use of our human life with its eighteen freedoms and endowments.”

Venerable Khenpo Rinpoches
The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind From Samsara (pgs 12-13)

www.padmasambhava.org/chiso/books-by-khenpo-rinpoches/four-thoughts-that-turn-the-mind-from-samsara