If we review our life, or even just the past year with honesty, we’ll notice the times when the garbage in our minds has led us to make bad decisions. Alarmed, we may scream, “Woe is me! This is too much to handle!” and then go to the bar, shopping mall, casino, refrigerator, or movies.
This attitude and the actions it inspires get us nowhere. Our old habits of low self-esteem, self-criticism, and defeatism are some of the garbage to abandon. Instead of wallowing in such unrealistic thoughts, we must leave the rubbish behind.
Whenever you find garbage thoughts and feelings in your mind, use that to strengthen your refuge in the Three Jewels—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha—and renew your determination to change. Remember, to clean a room, we must first see the dirt. Similarly, to clean your mind, you must first recognize the trash there. So rejoice when you see it because now you can clean it up
Thubten Chodron
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