What Legacy Will You Leave?

0:00Dharma Bites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for your life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, make a contribution at freebudastodio.com forward slash donate. Thank you and happy listening. When you are thoughtful and kind, patient and aware, when you turn towards others, as the Buddha turns towards us, even in the midst of pain, these positive qualities exist in the universe. So too, when you are morally outraged, aggrieved and jealous, the world contains such emotions, which does the world need more? What legacy are you going to leave? But wait, you might say, I'm a drop in the ocean compared to corporations, the Murdoch press, avaricious media companies competing for our streaming dollars?

1:00They are a veritable tidal wave compared to one little drop of contentment. But as we've learned from NASA, the ocean is made of individual drops and it does not remain an ocean forever. It too shall pass. You can create a new wave, one drop, one breath, one ethical choice at a time. Our actions, whether skillful or unskillful, touch lives and environments like the movement of water in the atmosphere. These acts ripple out and can change the world. It may not be easily seen or occur in dramatic ways, but it does leave a trace. And I have proof. As an educator, I impact on the lives of others, and they impact on me. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. And you never really know, in all honesty, how you affect others, not unless they tell you. Now, I've actually had ex-students of mine discover me through social media or I'll ping into them. And they have told me exactly how I affected them. It's very humbling, actually. And in all cases, and I've had a few of them, it was not the powerful lessons I spent

2:02hours preparing, but the small acts of showing interest or nudging in the right direction. In fact, in one particular case, it was a simple act of witnessing them and showing care that mattered the most. Now some of these people have gone on to become actors or teachers themselves, and they have cited my connection with them as one of the reasons for their decision. Not the only one, but a factor, a conditioning factor, one among many, one drop in the ocean. I don't live on in the hearts of these people, but the awareness and the possibility of kindness that I offered them does. We hope you enjoyed today's DharmaBate. Please help us keep this free. Make a contribution at freebudastodio.com forward slash donate. And thank you.