been a cause of her death, even though there was nothing he could do about it. Our lives depend upon the deaths of others. Even if we are vegetarian - and Buddhism advocates that we should eat as compassionately as we can - we cannot avoid the fact that many other creatures die in the harvesting and manufacture of our food. In all this, our life is mixed up with joy and sorrow. To live a full life is to feel both of these more deeply. So we have already established three very important Buddhist principles: individuality, dependency and gratitude. Just appreciating these three ideas and allowing them to penetrate into us can make a huge difference to our lives. If we were to take a few minutes four or five times a day to think back over the previous two or three hours and consider the ways in which we have each been individual, try to list some of the benefits we have received and the conditions that we have depended upon during that time, and feel a little gratitude, then, over a period of time, we will notice a natural improvement in many aspects of our life. We will experience greater peace of mind, find our relationships improving, our physical health is likely to benefit, and it is probable that we shall become more productive and contribute more to the good of our friends, neighbours and society. All this will come about naturally. Buddhism works like a seed. If one plants the seed and waters it, then it will grow. The resulting plant will differ a bit according to the soil and the aspect of the land and so on, and in the same way the seed of Dharma will develop a little differently in each individual. Nonetheless, it will grow and eventually bear tasty fruit. The planting of the seed happens at one moment, but the growing of the plant occurs over a period of time. Realising the basic points of Dharma is something that happens, as we say, like a penny dropping, but the resulting change then occurs over a much longer period of time. These changes may be imperceptible day to day, but over a longer period we see people becoming kinder, calmer, wiser and freer and this can be the same for each of us.
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